iTake a Road Trip
by JamesLily96
Summary: When Sam and Freddie get away from it all, by taking a road trip, the summer in between their senior high school and freshman year of college, will their relationship evolve from just friends, or somethng more?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, sadly.

I watched the ugly white block wall, complete with black skid marks from who knows what. The constant monotone of the teacher was beginning to wear on my nerves, and I was counting down the seconds until the bell rang, and school was over. And I mean, over. For good. It was the last day of my senior year of high school, last hour. After this, I never have to set foot in the halls of Ridgeway High School one more time.

I looked over at the bored blonde sitting in the desk next to me. She seemed to sense my stare, so she looked over at me.

"What do you want dork?" she asked, whispering with a hard edge to her tone.

"Nothing. Just bored." I mumbled quietly.

Sam scoffed, and leaned over closer to me, as far as the bar that connected the chair and desk would allow her.

"Five more minutes, and we're done with this crap." She said.

"Still, we've got college." I reminded her.

"Shut up Fredward. I don't need to hear about that right now." She said. "Don't ruin this perfect moment. It's bad enough you're here."

"Harsh." I said quietly, raising my eyebrows.

Before Sam could reply, the teacher cleared her throat, and glared at the two of us. "Puckett, Benson. How many times must I tell the two of you to be quiet." She said.

Sam laughed. "I don't know how many times you've told us. But, it doesn't matter anyways…" but before she could finish, the bell rang. The whole class cheered and ran out of the room. Sam got up quickly, and I was about to follow, but stopped to stare at her.

"You coming dork?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah Puckett." I said, and followed her out of the room.

We successfully navigated our way through a hallway full of screaming kids and flying papers. And, a shirtless Gibby. Once out into the hot Sun, I nudged Sam.

"No more high school." I said.

"Yeah. It's nice isn't it?" She said quietly.

"Yeah." I answered. We walked to my truck in a comfortable silence.

"It would be nice if Carls gave us the time of day." Sam said as she slammed the passenger door.

"She's too wrapped up in, Shane." I said, annoyed.

"No need to state the obvious Benson." She said and smirked.

"No need to act like a freak." I said, smirking back at her.

She hit me on the shoulder. "Just shut up and buy me a smoothie."

"How many times have I heard that statement?" I asked, turning the radio on to Cuttlefish. Sam insisted that was the only CD we listened too, because my other music was too dorky and reminded her of Gibby. I didn't bother to ask what that meant.

"I have no idea. Let's just ditch this place." She said, and settled back into her seat, letting herself fall into the music.

I just grinned, and took off out of the school parking lot, never again having to pull back in. Sam stuck her head out the window and cheered.

"Oh yeah!" she yelled, and couple of other guys yelled back.

I laughed. "What's your plans for the summer, Puckett?"

"Hanging with Carls, maybe you. If you behave." She said, letting her arm fly out the window.

"If I behave? What about you?" I asked, smirking.

She laughed. "I'm not going to disagree with that."

We settled into a comfortable silence. We got to Groovy Smoothie, and Sam ran in, not bothering to wait for me. I followed her, and she was waiting by the counter, impatiently.

"Slow much, dork?" she asked.

I rolled my eyes, and paid for whatever she ordered. T-Bo handed us the order, and we sat at our favorite table. She downed her smoothie, and started to devour a pickle she ordered. I didn't really get the whole pickle/smoothie combination, but Sam had grown to love it.

"So, what are your plans for the summer?" she asked, after she finished her food.

"Same as yours. Just hanging out. Getting ready for college, since I'm already in at Stanford." I said, casually, sipping my smoothie.

She scoffed. "Already in at Stanford…"

"Yeah, I told you that like three weeks ago. I got my acceptance letter." I said. "You know?" She looked at me blankly. "Oh, whatever."

Her eyes brightened. "Oh yeah, now I remembered. You called me at like 5 in the morning, yelling some dorky thing about Stanford University."

I nodded. "Yeah."

She laughed. "I forgot to tell you…"

"Forgot to tell me what?" I asked cautiously. This could be bad news. That's normally what Sam "conveniently" forgot.

"I applied at some colleges the other day." She said.

I raised my eyebrows. "I thought you said college was for dorks and do-gooders?"

"Yeah well, Mamma can change her mind, right?" she said, smirking.

"Where did you apply?" I asked. You had to keep pressing Sam, to eventually get all the information you wanted.

"Oh you know, Washington State, and Stanford." She said, twirling her hair.

"Stanford?" I asked, shocked. I almost spit out my drink.

"Yeah, my grades haven't been too bad the past couple years. You know, since you made me start studying." She said, and rolled her eyes. "And, iCarly had a reputation, you know?"

I nodded slowly, trying to take this all in. Sam applied at Stanford? "Wow." Was all I could choke out.

"Yeah. But, I haven't made it in yet. And, I frankly don't care if I do." She said laughing.

But, before I could respond, a couple beside us, with two kids, was talking really loudly, and Sam and I got distracted, listening to what they were saying.

"It's going to be so nice, to get away from it all. Going on this road trip." The woman said sighing, with a dreamy look on her face.

"You've got that right. The kids will be staying with my mom, and we're going to be all alone." The man said. Then, one of their kids started crying, and they bent over to see what was wrong.

Sam and I sideways glanced at each other. "That would be fun, to get away from everything." She said, resting her head in her hands, her blue eyes staring at me.

"Get away from what? We've got a stress-free summer ahead of us." I asked, curiously.

"Don't you want to do something exciting and adventurous before four years of boring college classes?" she said, her blue eyes shining with excitement.

"Well, yeah." I said slowly.

"Come on. Let's do it." She said standing up.

"Go on a road trip?" I asked.

"Yes!" she said impatiently.

"But, my mom will never let me. Plus, what about Carly? Where would we even go?" I asked and Sam sighed.

"Okay, look. We figure something out with your mother, Carly wants to stay home this summer with Shane, and we could just wing it where we go." She said and pulled me up from my chair. She dragged me outside.

"But, Sam…" I said.

"No buts. We're doing this." She said, an air of finality in her voice. And there was no use arguing with a Puckett.

**A/N: Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, sadly.

"Freddie? Are you sure about this?" my mom asked me, standing in our living room.

Sam sighed, she was standing right behind me. "Yes, Mom, I'm completely sure. We're not going to anything dangerous."

"But, why do you want to leave your mother here all alone?" she asked, with sad eyes.

"Mom, you'll be fine. You have Dave." I said, trying to comfort my mother. Dave was her new boyfriend, a fellow nurse at the Seattle Regional Hospital.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. Just be sure to be careful, and take tick baths every other Friday." She said, hugging me.

I just smiled, not answering. I guess she took that as a yes, because she didn't pester me further. I hugged her one last time, and Sam and I left the apartment, complete with two suitcases, and a mini version of my mom's first-aid-kit.

Sam laughed as we walked towards my truck. "We're officially free."

I whooped, and Sam laughed again. We lugged the suitcases in the back seat of my truck, which I got a year ago. I loved that truck. It was a bright red, Ford F-150. I had saved all my money to but it, working various jobs. Sam said she thought I was going to buy a dorky car, but then I dropped by her house in this. She had actually told me it was all right, and fishing a compliment out of Samantha Puckett, was like Gibby not taking his shirt off, for a whole week.

Sam got in the passenger seat, and I took the driver's seat. She looked at me with bright, blue eyes. "Where to?"

"Anywhere you want to go." I said, and grinned.

Sam turned on the radio, and put her feet up on the dash. "Let's drive to San Francisco." She said with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Why San Francisco?" I asked, curiously.

"Because, nub, that's where I want to go." She said, but she was smiling.

"Fine, fine. But, I have a better idea. Let's go down Hwy. 101 to get there." I said, and Sam's lit up. She grinned.

"Oh yeah, we defiantly should. And, we should stop at whatever we think looks cool." She said. "We can take all summer, can't we?"

"Yeah, I guess we can." I said. "So, Highway 101?" I asked.

"Yes, dork. Just go." She said, and rolled her eyes playfully. Over the years, our teasing had become less harsh, now it was just fun. We had both sort of fallen into the routine.

"I'm going." I said and pulled out of the parking lot of Bushwell Plaza.

We both settled into the music, and a comfortable silence fell over the two of us. I watched the buildings flash by me, as I merged onto Interstate 5. Occasionally, I would glance over at Sam. Her arm was dangling out her open window, her blonde hair flying in the wind. I could tell she was thinking about something, by the way her eyes looked. It was hard to tell what Sam felt like, but sometimes you could tell be her eyes.

After a while, I pulled off the interstate onto, Hwy. 8. It would eventually get us to Hwy. 101. Sam sighed dramatically.

"Are we there yet?" she sighed.

"Sam it's only 9:00 in the morning. But, we're out of Seattle now." I added with a smile.

"That's good." She said, and turned the radio up louder. "When can we eat lunch?"

"I don't know. Look at the map, it's in the glove compartment." I added.

"Fine." She sighed, and opened the glove compartment, grabbing the map, almost ripping it. I groaned.

"Where are we?" she asked, trying to figure out the map.

I suppressed a laugh, and looked at a sign out the window. "We're in McCleary."

"Okay, then. Let's eat in South Bend." She said, looking at the map.

"How far away is that?" I asked, glancing at her. Her eyes were scrunched in concentration.

"Well, drive to a town called Aberdeen, and then get onto Hwy. 101, and then you'll hit South Bend." She said.

"Sounds good to me." I said, smiling.

"It better sound good to you, Benson. 'Cause that's where Mama wants to eat." She said, smirking.

I laughed. "I know, Puckett."

She sighed, her emotions taking a different turn. "I wish Carls was with us."

"Me too." I said, but part of me really didn't. It was kind of fun, just Sam and I hanging out. She looked at me.

"I knew she would stay in Seattle, with her boyfriend." She said. "The two of them together, are slightly sickening."

"Slightly?" I asked, sarcastically.

She laughed. "You're right, for once Benson. It's horrible."

I grinned. "Yeah, the way they kiss all the time."

She scoffed. "I remember a time, when you and Carly were doing the same thing."

"Well, I never initiated it." I said, rolling my eyes.

She laughed. "Carly does like a little kissing with her boyfriends."

"A little?" I asked, sarcastically.

"Oh, don't pretend you didn't like it." She said, laughing.

"Well, it wasn't to bad. Not as good as…" I trailed off, realizing what I was saying.

"Not as good as what?" she asked curiously.

"Nothing." I mumbled.

She glanced at me. "Tell me, Benson."

"Fine, not as good as my first kiss." I said, careful not to look at her.

I heard her take a deep breath. "Oh."

We both cleared our throats, awkwardly. Then, I noticed a sign. "Look, we're in South Bend."

Sam's eyes lit up. "Is it time for lunch yet?"

"No, none of the restaurants are open yet. It's only 10:00 A.M." I said.

She sighed. "But, I'm hungry."

"Can't you wait for like an hour?" I asked.

"No." she said stubbornly.

I rolled my eyes, and then pulled into a parking lot. It overlooked a river, with a long dock. There was a small harbor full of fishing boats. It looked like a quiet, sleepy town.

Sam laughed. "Look, their sign says The Oyster Capital of the World."

"I know what we're having for lunch." I said, grinning.

"Oh, yeah." Sam said. We smiled at each other.

"Do you want to walk on the dock?" I asked.

Sam nodded and we hopped out of the truck. We walked down the worn dock, which reached halfway across the small section of the river. It was really peaceful, and a few birds flew overhead.

"This is nice." Sam said, quietly.

I nodded, and looked over at her. We were standing at the end of the dock, and the wind was whipping through her hair. I wasn't going to lie; Sam's a pretty girl.

"I think we should stay here today." I said.

Sam smiled. "You think?"

"Yeah, I know it's still morning, but it's so peaceful here." I said.

"You're a nub, but yeah, I think we should stay here, today." She said.

"We're going to college this year, and you still insist on calling me names?" I asked exasperatedly.

"Yes, of course." She said, laughing. And then, she took of running down the dock. I laughed, and chased her. I eventually caught up to her, but we were almost back to the truck. I grabbed her around the waist, and we were both laughing.

"Freddie…" Sam said, out of breath.

"What?" I asked, just as out of breath as I was.

"You can let go now." She said awkwardly, and I realized I was still holding her around the waist.

"Sorry." I said, and let go of her.

"Let's go find a restaurant." She said, and I nodded, still embarrassed.

We both got in the truck, and Sam turned the radio back on. I kept driving, and drove down a sort of shabby looking road, and I was about to turn into a nicer part of town, but Sam gasped.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Pull into that parking lot." She said, pointing behind us.

"What? Why?" I asked.

"Just do it, Benson." She said, her voice raised a few octaves. Now, I wasn't about to mess with Sam, when she wanted something, so I made an illegal u-turn.

"There, Sam. You happy?" I asked, as I pulled into a parking spot.

She nodded, and jumped out of the truck. I followed her, confusedly. What was she up to now?

"This, Benson, is where I want to eat." She said.

I looked at her. We were standing in front of a shabby-looking brick shopping center, with a couple of broken-down trucks in front of it.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because, look, their sign says barbequed oysters." She said, staring in awe. "Stop being such a priss, and let's eat." She said, smirking, and pulling me through the front door.

**A/N: I just wanted to say; everywhere I mention is a real place on Hwy. 101. I've been researching places Sam and Freddie should visit, and I hope you guys like it! Thanks for reading and please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, sadly.

We walked through the door, and a little bell rang, signaling there were new customers. I looked at my surroundings. There were a few tables in the middle of the small room, and on the outside edges, there were shabby-looking red booths. In the back of the restaurant, there was a window, where you could see directly into the kitchen. After waiting for about 30 seconds, a woman in a fresh, white apron, came up to us. She smiled.

"How many, today?" she asked, in a warm tone. She looked older, with soft, curly brown hair. The only thing that gave away her age, were the wrinkle lines in her forehead.

"Two." Sam grumbled. Sam was not a fun person to be with, when she was hungry.

The woman nodded, and pulled out two menus from a stack, behind the podium, standing in front of the door. We followed her to one of the booths, and I watched the other people in the restaurant. They all looked to be older, and were probably farmers, or something related to that. Sam didn't seem to be noticing anything, but her menu. She looked up at me, when she realized I was staring at her.

"What?" she asked, annoyed.

"What are you going to get?" I asked. I hadn't even looked at my menu, yet.

"The barbequed oyster platter." Sam said, with a smile. Her mouth was practically drooling, just looking at the menu. I had to admit, it sounded good.

The same woman that sat us, came back to our booth, with a little tablet to write down what we wanted.

"Hello, folks. What can I get for you to drink?" she asked.

"I'll have Wahoo Punch. He'll have the same." She said, pointing her head, in my direction. "We're also, ready to order."

I just stared at her. The lady smiled. "Okay, what will you have?"

"Two barbequed-oyster platters." Sam said, impatiently.

The lady smiled, and took our order back to the kitchen. "Why did you order for me?" I asked, exasperatedly.

"Because, Fredward, you take too long. And, Mama's hungry." Sam said, her blue eyes, smiling at me.

I just rolled my eyes. "Okay, Sam."

"So, we're staying here, tonight?" she asked, twiddling a straw wrapper, in her hands.

"Yeah, I think it would be cool." I said, smiling.

"It's a cool town. Where are we going to stay, exactly? I mean, there's probably a lot of hotels, in this town?" Sam asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I have no idea." I said. Then, we saw the lady come walking out with our drinks, and order. Wow, that was fast.

Sam licked her lips, as the plate of barbequed oysters, was set in front of her. I had to admit, they looked good. When, my plate was set in front of me, I dug in, just as about as quickly as Sam. Well, wait, that's not, possible.

I took one bite, of the oysters, and, almost groaned. They tasted, very good. They like, melted in your mouth. The restaurant looked so shabby, but it was so, good. Sam and I looked at each other, and sighed, in happiness. These oysters, were very, very, good. I don't know how many time's I could repeat, it… It was almost like Galini's pie. We finished quickly.

"Wow…" Sam said, sighing, her blue eyes, sparkling.

"I know, they were good." I breathed, softly.

Sam nodded, and the lady, came back, with our check. I paid for it, without a question. Sam and I had fallen into the routine, where I, paid for everything. It was almost like she was my girlfriend. Wait, I just needed to get that thought, out of my, head.

We left the restaurant, and walked back out to our truck. Sam hopped in the passenger side, and I took the drivers seat. I was getting used to our little routine. I liked it. Sam looked sideways, at me.

"Where to, Benson?" she said.

"Do you want to find a hotel?" I asked, flipping the radio on.

"It's so early." Sam whined, but before I could reply, something caught my eye.

"Look." I said, and Sam breathed in response.

"It's awesome." Sam said, and I raised my eyebrows at her.

We were staring up at an old-looking, Victorian mansion. It had a huge, front porch, and an ornate turret, extending up three stories. Then, I noticed a sign, planted directly in front of it.

"Look, Sam. It says The Russell House, Bed and Breakfast. We can stay here, tonight." I added. Sam nodded, still staring up at the mansion.

"It's going to be expensive." Sam said. She looked doubtful.

"Well, we can try." I said with a smile, and pulled into The Russell House's small parking lot.

Sam and I got out of the truck, and walked slowly, up the small, flagstone path, leading up to the massive front porch. We walked into the house, opening up a creaky front door. The lobby, or parlor, was bright and airy. It had a small sitting area, and a wooden desk, that I guessed you were supposed to check-in at. There was a small bell, just waiting to be rung, sitting on the desk. I noticed a set of bookshelves filled with old classics, along another wall. I already liked this place.

Sam impatiently rung the bell, and a lady came through a swinging door, rushing to the desk. She had short-choppy blonde hair, and small glasses, that sat on her nose.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" she asked, in a nasally voice. Sam sideways glanced at me, and I cleared my throat awkwardly.

"We'd like two rooms." Sam said, impatiently.

"I'm sorry, we only have one room available." The lady said. "I'm afraid that's all we can do for you. The other rooms have all been rented out for the night."

Sam looked at me, and I shrugged. Sam gave a curt nod, so I cleared my throat. "One room, will be just fine." I said, pulling out my credit card.

"The room we have available, is the Bay Room. It's on the second floor, and was a window seat, which is in the turret. It's a very cute room, for only $115.00 a night." The lady said.

Sam and I looked at each other. It sounded like a pretty reasonable price. "Okay, that'll be fine." Sam said, quickly.

The lady nodded, and ran my credit card through the machine. "Breakfast is at 9:00 A.M. in the morning." She said, with a fake smile.

"Do they serve bacon?" Sam asked, a questioning look in her eyes. I had to stifle a laugh.

"Yes…" the lady said, confused.

"Good, come on Freddo, let's go check out our room." Sam said, and grabbed my arm, pulling me down the small hallway, towards the sign that pointed to the stairs. I grabbed the key the lady handed me, thanked her, and Sam pulled me along.

We went up the creaky, narrow staircase, and onto the second floor. I saw a door labeled, The Bay Room, a pushed the key in. It was like walking into a sea of pink. A pink quilt, pink floral wallpaper, pink carpet, there was even a pink couch.

"Wow." I said, and breathed a sigh.

"This is horrible." Sam said, dejectedly.

"Hey, it's okay. Pink's not all that bad." I said, trying to stay optimistic.

Sam glared at me. "Not all that bad?" she asked.

"Yeah, okay, so maybe it's bad." I said, with a sigh.

Sam nodded, and went to pull back the curtains, so it didn't look so dark. She kind of gasped, and motioned for me to come over. I walked up behind her, and looked out the window.

"Wow." I said, again. We had a beautiful view of Willapa Bay, which we hadn't really seen yet. It was really pretty.

"This kind of makes up for the pink." Sam said, and weirdly laid her head on my shoulder. I pulled her a little closer, and we both looked out at the bay, with its sparkling blue water. I realized it kind of reminded me of Sam's eyes.

**A/N: Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, sadly.

Sam's P.O.V:

I watched Freddie, as he methodically got ready for bed. We have to share the same bathroom, and it was thoroughly awkward. I noticed how routine Freddie was. He probably got ready the same, exact way every night. He brushed his teeth, setting it up a certain way, then washed his face. To be honest, it was quite mesmerizing. I tried to focus on running a brush through my hair, but it was seemingly impossible. Finally, Freddie finished; I could get ready for bed in peace.

I then finished, and walked out into the bedroom. Freddie was lying on a quilt, on the floor. He looked uncomfortable, turned on his side. Then, I noticed he was reading a book. I checked out the title. It was A Walk to Remember, by Nicholas Sparks. I had to choke back a laugh. Freddie Benson read Nichols Sparks?

"Hey Freddo. You're such a girl." I said, smiling playfully.

He flinched, as if taken by surprise. I guess he thought I was still in the bathroom. "Huh?" he asked. He was still kind of absorbed in a book- reading world. I knew what it felt like, because all those years ago, after Freddie challenged me to a bet, about reading a whole book, I had developed a weird love of reading. And most surprisingly, I liked romance novels. I know what you're thinking, Sam Puckett reads and likes romance novels? I still have a hard time believing it myself, once in a while…

"You're reading Nicholas Sparks?" I asked, again smiling.

Freddie nodded, and a blush flamed across his cheeks. "Yeah, this isn't really my style of book, but…" he trailed off.

I just nodded. "Don't worry, I get it." I sat down on the edge of the pink-covered bed, looking down at the brunette-boy.

Freddie raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Sam Puckett's not giving me a hard time? Especially about this?" he said, pointing to the book in his hand.

"No, I like Nicholas Sparks too." I said, again smiling.

Freddie grinned. "Don't tell anyone about this."

"I promise I won't." I said, genuinely. I haven't forgotten the last time I spilled one of Freddie's secrets.

"Good." Freddie said, trying to settle into his uncomfortable bed on the floor.

I plopped myself down on the soft mattress, and stole another glance at Freddork. He was rolled over on his side, and he didn't look like he could get much sleep lying that way. I sighed. Was I feeling sorry for him? I finally gave in.

"Freddie, you can sleep up here. If you want?" I said, quietly.

Freddie looked up at me in shock. "Really?" he asked.

I nodded, and Freddie slowly got up, and climbed up into the bed. I scooted over, and he got comfortable beside me. I thought it would be awkward, but it wasn't. I reached over and turned my lamp off, and Freddie turned his off. We both fell asleep, to the peaceful rhythm of each other's breathing.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooO

My eyes fluttered open the next morning, and sunshine was streaming through the window. I felt a weight beside me, and turned to see what it was. I almost gasped, when I saw Freddie, but then remembered I told him he cold sleep up here last night.

He looked so peaceful, while he was sleeping. Then, I realized how close we were. Freddie had his arm draped across my waist, and our legs were intertwined. It freaked me out a little bit. Was I snuggling with Fredward Benson? The thought was so foreign to me.

Then, Freddie started to stir in his sleep. I quickly closed my eyes, because for some reason, I didn't want him to know I was awake.

"Sam?" Freddie finally asked, after a few minutes. He nudged me softly. I acted like I was waking up.

I slowly opened my eyes. "Oh, hey Fredwina." I added.

"Good morning, Princess Puckett." Freddie said, a smirk crossing his features. I couldn't help but notice how chiseled his jaw looked. I wasn't going to deny it. Freddie doesn't look like a nub anymore.

"Morning, Benson." I said, with a smile. Freddie grinned back, and then at the same time we both realized his arm was still draped around my waist, and we were snuggling, and we were both awake this time. Freddie cleared his throat awkwardly, and I rolled over, blushing.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooO

I hopped into the passenger seat of Freddie's truck, and Freddie started the car. I turned the radio on, and Freddie and I both settled back into our seats. We were going to keep driving down Highway 101, until we saw something cool.

I looked over at Freddie. He was concentrating on the road, he brown eyes looking thoughtful. I wonder what he was thinking about? He had one hand on the steering wheel, and one hand dangling out the window. I looked away quickly, realizing what I was doing. This is Fredward Benson we're talking about. There's no way I was just checking him out… right?

**A/N: I hope Sam and Freddie don't seem to OOC… Anyways, thanks for reading, and please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, sadly.

Sam and I kept driving, down the bay. The road was getting was further and further into the country, but then it veered back towards the ocean. Sam was leaned against her seat-belt, fast asleep. I grinned, and turned the radio off, so she could sleep in peace. I stared out the window, watching the world pass by. We passed by a old Indian Village in a small farming community called Nemah. We kept driving, and I occasionally got a glance of Willapa Bay. Finally, I heard Sam stir around. I was starting to get bored, without her being awake.

"Where are we?" she asked me, groggily.

"We just passed through Nemah..." I glanced at the map. "And now, we're on our way towards Ilwaco." I finished, grinning at her.

"Oh, alright." she said, and rolled down her window, letting her hand fly out of it.

I glanced out the window, looking at the ocean. "Sam, look!"

"Wow." she said, and we smiled at each other, before looking out at the ocean again. There were two whales, swimming together. It was a pretty cool sight.

I pulled over, so we could watch them. It wasn't very often you saw a whale, especially two of them. We both got out of the car, and onto a small overlook, built on a bluff. We leaned over the rail, and Sam leaned a little too far. I pulled her back.

"Benson..." she groaned.

"What? I didn't want you to fall." I said, looking into her blue eyes.

She scoffed. "Mama can take care of herself."

"I know." I said, and we watched the watched the whales together, as they swam off into the distance.

OooooooooooooooooooooooO

I pulled the car into a roadside gas station, and Sam jumped out of the car. I stared after her. She was already halfway across the parking lot before I yelled at her.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I have to use the bathroom!" she yelled back. Only Sam would yell that loudly in a public place.

I just grumbled an okay, and filled the truck up with gas. I finished, and Sam still hadn't come out. I sighed, drumming my finger's on the dash. Finally, I saw her blonde hair bobbing it's way across the parking lot, and she was holding some plastic bags.

She opened the car door. "They had a bunch of fat cakes in there." she stated.

I laughed. "Did you buy them all?"

"You bet I did. We should be be set for the next week or so." she said, grinning at me, as we pulled out of the gas station.

"Don't you mean you should be set for the next week or so? You haven't let me touch your fat cakes since I met you, which was 10 years ago."" I answered.

"Have we really known each other for ten years?" Sam asked, looking over at me.

"Well yeah, since we were seven or eight I guess. We've only been pretty good friends for the past five years though." I said.

Sam laughed. "Do you remember when we met?"

"How could I forget?" I asked, and we laughed.

I remembered the day I met Sam Puckett like it was yesterday. I was eight years old. I remember looking through my peephole and watching Carly and Spencer move into their apartment. Sam was with them, so I guess her and Carly had already become friends.

_Flashback:_

_I had then decided to go meet our new neighbor's, and walked out the door, and I immediately thought both of the girls were really pretty. Back then, I thought the brunette was prettier, but as I got older, I realized how wrong I was. _

_I then had nervously walked up to the two girls. "Hi, I'm Freddie." I remember saying._

_Sam looked down at my short, nerdy figure, and Carly smiled. "Hi, do you live in this apartment building?" she asked, looking around._

"_Yeah I do. Right across from you actually." I said, and I remembered watching Carly longingly. _

"_Cool. Well, I'm Carly, and this is Sam." she said, and Sam just nodded her hello. _

"_Hi Sam." I said, and I remembered turning towards her, looking into disapproving face. We were so little then._

"_Hi, um, Freddie." she said, looking sideways at Carly._

_Then, I remembered the moment of embarrassment. "Freddie, it's time for you tick bath!" my mom said, as she stuck her head out of the door. _

_Sam had snickered, and I remembered Carly stifling a giggle. _

"_Nub." Sam said, as I walked back to my apartment with a red-face. _

"I guess my first impression of you was right then, nub." she said, looking over at me, but she was smiling and her eyes were gleaming. I knew deep down, she didn't mean it.

"My first impression was right too. I knew, when I walked back into my apartment, you would embarrass me the rest of my childhood and teenage years." I said, smirking.

We both laughed, but then Sam looked over at me, biting her lip. I could tell she was thinking about something. "You grew up though."

"It's a natural thing." I said, smiling at her.

"Well, yeah. But, I mean, like when I insulted you when we were little, you yelled at me, and tried to fight back. It was kind of funny, because you were so small. But then, you got taller, and you I don't like to admit it, but got some muscles. And you didn't seem to care too much when I insulted you, you would just roll your eyes. I guess what I'm trying to say is that we've changed a whole lot, while Carly, she hasn't." Sam finished, with a deep breathe. She just kept staring straight ahead, as if she didn't want to see my facial expression.

I was pretty surprised at what she said. But she was really right. "That's true. I mean, I actually like fighting with you now." I said, laughing.

Sam grinned. "Yeah Benson, I really like to fight with you too."

We pulled into the small fishing village of Ilwaco. We were almost into Oregon, but Sam decided she wanted to spend the night here. So, we were driving around, looking for a hotel. I spotted one, and it was overlooking a small port.

"Hey, Sam, this one looks cute." I said gesturing to the gray shingled building.

"Cute? Really, Benson? Do you have to say cute?" Sam asked, grinning.

"Uh, yeah. It's a very manly term. Like guys say girls are cute. Like I would call you you cute." I cringed, realizing what I just said. It was completely true, but I can't believe I just said it out loud.

Sam immediately blushed. "Thanks." she said quietly. Well, that's not what I was expecting.

"Your welcome." I said, and nervously pulled into the hotel.

We got out of the car, and awkwardness settled in. I opened the door, and Sam pushed past me, her face still red. I cleared my throat. Why did I have to say that?

We walked up to the desk of the hotel. I noticed it was called Inn at Harbor Village. "Cute name." Sam whispered in my ear. I stifled a laugh. Maybe things weren't as awkward as I thought.

The hotel had old fashioned keys, and I fumbled with the lock. Sam groaned, took it from me, and opened the door with ease. Sam and I both smiled when we opened the white paneled door of our room. It was called the Mariner's Room, and the reason was obvious. The walls were painted a light yellow, and the ceiling was complete with thin, white paneling. There was a small window seat with a navy blue cushion, and a few pillow's. The window overlooked the woods, and I noticed the bedroom, had it's own private bathroom. There was nautical decor throughout the whole room.

"Whoa, I like it." Sam said, as she plopped her bag down, and laid on the bed.

"Me too." I answered, plopping down my bag next to Sam's, and laying down next to her.

"I saw something I want to go see, when we walked into the hotel." she said, as she turned towards me.

"What is it?" I asked, having trouble not getting lost in her blue eyes.

"It was an old chapel. It's on the hotel's property." Sam said softly. Okay, I was not expecting that answer. I figured it was going to be a buffet, or a barbeque place, or a barbeque buffet.

"Oh alright, do you want to go see it now?" I answered.

"Sure." Sam said, pulling me up off of the bed.

We walked down the path to the chapel. It was gray shingled, just like the hotel. It had a white bell tower, and I thought it looked really pretty.

"Freddie, I just decided. I want to get married here someday." Sam said, smiling.

I almost choked on my own spit. "What?" I spluttered.

"You know, get married?" Sam asked, like I was stupid.

"To me?" I asked.

Sam's mouth dropped open. "What? No, of course not."

My face reddened. Why did I think that? I'm just the king of stupidity today... "Oh." I managed to say.

"Why would you think that?" Sam asked, and she stopped walking, with her hands on her hips.

"Well, I just, thought you were talking about me. I don't know..." I trailed off.

Sam laughed. "Like I would marry you..."

I forced a fake laugh, as Sam looked up at me. "Right, and like I would marry you..." I scoffed.

Sam looked away from me. "Yeah, I'm sure someday you'll marry a bookish type girl, who really loves you, and I'll marry... I don't know who I'll marry yet."

"You'll find somebody perfect for you." I said, as we opened the front doors of the historic chapel.

"Maybe." Sam answered.

**A/N: Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, sadly.

Sam's P.O.V.:

I walked into the chapel, Freddie trailing behind me. I couldn't stop thinking about the awkwardness that just ensued. Why in the world would Freddie think I was talking about marrying him? That was crazy talk. I mean, Freddie and I are total opposites. He's nice, kind of quiet, and very polite. I'm not. We constantly flight and argue. But, we both admitted we liked fighting with each other. And, we both like Nicholas Sparks. And we've been best friends for a while now, as much as both hate (but really enjoy) to admit.

I couldn't ignore the jolt of sadness I felt when he said he wouldn't ever marry me. Was I not good enough for him? I sighed inwardly.

"This is pretty." I heard Freddie say, as he looked around the small, white interior of the chapel. He was right, it was pretty.

"Agreed." I answered.

Freddie slid into a pew. He patted the spot next to him. I smiled, and rolled my eyes. I slid in next to him.

"What are we going to do for the rest of the day?" Freddie asked, trying to make conversation. I suddenly got kind of annoyed at his chocolate brown eyes, perfectly chiseled face, and his hairstyle without one hair out of place.

"I don't know Fredward. Can you ever just enjoy the moment?" I asked, glaring at him.

Freddie looked taken aback. "I always try to enjoy the moment. But, it kind of makes it hard when you're being all negative."

I surprisingly felt tears spring to my eyes. What was wrong with me today? When have I ever cried at what Freddie's said to me? I looked away from Freddie, hoping he wouldn't notice, but of course, he did.

"Sam? Are you crying?" he said. I didn't answer, and I felt him move closer to me. "Oh man, Sam, I didn't mean to make you cry. It doesn't matter if you're negative sometimes, so am I. We can do whatever you want today. I'm really sorry." he said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder's, trying to console me.

I really didn't know why I was crying. It wasn't because Freddie had said I was negative. I shrugged his arm off. "Benson, I really don't know why I'm crying." I said, my voice shaky.

"You don't know why you're crying?" Freddie asked, and I looked back at him. He wiped a stray tear off of my face, with his thumb.

"No. Well, I guess I'm just thinking about the future, and stuff." I answered, glad I wasn't crying as hard.

"I know, I think about it a-lot too." Freddie said, smiling nervously at me. He obviously didn't know how to handle girls crying.

"Freddie, you're going to be fine. What about me?" I asked, and Freddie took my hand. He rubbed his thumb in my hand, softly.

"Trust me, Sam. You're smart. I'm sure you'll have lots of adventures, even better than this one." he said smiling.

"I guess so." I said, looking up at him. I couldn't help but notice his hand fit perfectly in mine.

"Sam, we don't know what's going to happen in the future. But, I just have a weird feeling it's going to be good." Freddie said, as he smiled.

"I hope so." I whispered. We just sat there, thinking, holding hands, for quite a while.

"We still have to eat some lunch, and do something for the rest of the day." I said, as Freddie and I left the chapel.

"Well, the downtown part of Ilwaco looked pretty cool." Freddie said.

"Sounds fine to me." I said, and skipped down to the truck.

Freddie got into the truck behind me. "Your mood certainly changed."

I just grinned at him, and turned on the radio. "I don't know. I just feel better I guess."

"Well, that's always a plus." Freddie said, as we both rolled down our windows, breathing in the fresh, ocean air.

We drove through the small downtown area of Ilwaco, and I looked around. I didn't see much, but the town was kind of quaint. Oh no, Freddie's rubbing off on me. Then, I spotted something.

"Hey Freddie. Look, it's a restaurant, called Port Bistro." I said, gesturing out my window.

"Okay, do you want to eat there? Because I'm starving." Freddie said, looking over at me expectantly.

I grinned. "I'm starving too. Let's go."

Freddie pulled into the Port Bistro, and it did have a good view of the ocean. We walked in the double door, and a hostess was waiting in the entrance area.

"Hello. Welcome to the Port Bistro. Would you like to be seated?" she asked.

"Yeah. Non-Smoking please." Freddie said. I knew how much he didn't like the smell of smoke, and I didn't like it too much either.

"Okay, right this way please." the lady said, picking up two menus. This place looked fancy. Freddie walked behind me, and the two of us sat down at a table, overlooking the port.

We sat down, and looked over the menu. I scanned the first page. "Um, Freddie?"

"What?" he asked, looking up at me.

"Did you see how much the cheapest thing you can get here is?" I asked.

Freddie looked down at the menu. "$32.50." he said, looking up at me.

"We can't afford this." I said, standing up.

"Agreed. But, how do we leave without being rude?" he asked.

"We'll just tell them the truth if they ask. Come on." I said, pulling Freddie up by the arm, and dragging him out of the restaurant. The waiter looked at us questioningly, and suddenly I thought of all the people I'd seen in Seattle without food, and even without a warm place to stay. It was unlike me to get mad about stuff like that, but when I saw these people spending thirty dollars for a salad, something stirred inside of me.

I clenched my fist around Freddie's wrist. "I thought you said you wanted to go. Ow, Sam that hurts." he said, as I pulled him back.

"Hey." I yelled to the whole restaurant.

"Sam?" Freddie seethed, under his breath.

Everyone looked up at Freddie and me. I walked over to a woman with a dark blue dress, and a set of pearls. She looked extremely rich, and she had a fancy looking meal in front of her on the table.

"How much did that cost?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

She looked taken aback. "Well, I don't see how that's any of your business."

Her husband, dressed in a suit, looked angry. "Please, back away from our table, and go back to where you belong."

I scoffed. "You probably spent $40.00 on that meal. Do know how much $40.00 could go for a homeless person?"

"I have to eat too." the woman said.

"I know that. But, I'm just saying..." but before I could say anything, someone grabbed my arm.

"You're coming with us young lady." a man said, and I turned around. Oh great, a police officer.

"Sam..." Freddie groaned, looking at me through jail cell bars. "What was that?"

It turns out, the lady in the blue dress, and her husband, were real big wigs around her, and practically owned the whole town. And, they had wanted me arrested. Which is how I ended up in this small, little jail. Freddie looked pretty mad at me.

"I don't know Freddie. I just thought about those hobos we saw outside the Groovy Smoothie that one time. Or any other people who can't help themselves and need help. I don't like people who think they're all better than anyone else." I said, and Freddie sighed.

"I agree with you Sam. But, did you have to make a scene in that restaurant? I mean, I have to fork over practically all of the money we have for this trip to get you out of here." Freddie said.

"I know, I know. So, we can't stay in hotels after this? Who cares, we have the truck." I said. "How much is the bail anyways?"

"Not very much for disturbing the peace. Only $400.00. But, we only brought $800.00, and we've spent about $350.00 of that." Freddie said.

"Which means we only have $50.00 left." I said, with a sigh.

"So, I guess we have to turn around and go back to Seattle..." Freddie said, looking at me.

I groaned. "No way Benson. I am not going back to Seattle."

"Then what do you propose we do?" he asked, and I rolled my eyes at his tone.

"I propose, we find odd jobs or something. We can sleep in the truck, and hopefully find a way to make enough money for gas and food." I said.

Freddie still looked skeptical. "Maybe. But, you have to try. I'm not going to do everything. I'll turn right back around to Seattle if you don't."

"Stop treating me like I'm five years old. We can do this, okay?" I asked.

"Fine. I'll go hand over our money now, Puckett, to bail you out." he seethed. Man, he was really mad this time. But I actually "disturbed the peace", for a good reason this time. Well, he would cool off, eventually.

I looked around the jail cell for a minute while I waited for Freddie to come back and get me out. I had been in the cells in juvie, but these were more depressing. I shivered slightly, as I looked at the cell across from me. A guy was leering at me, in a creepy way. At least we were separated by some bars. The thought didn't comfort me too much.

Why I was scared, anyways? I could beat these guys up, if I wanted to. But still, I sent a mental message to Freddie: _Get your butt back here. _

I sat down on a small, concrete bench, and wrapped my arms around myself. The guy that was staring at me, cleared his throat.

"Hey little missy." he said, gruffly.

"Hi." I said, trying to sound confident.

"What are you in for?" he asked.

I looked through the bars at him, for a second, before answering. "I disturbed the peace." I said.

He laughed, and I clenched my fists slightly. "That's all?"

"Yes." I said, not wanting to talk anymore.

"Who was that man you were talking to earlier?" he asked, and I almost laughed. Freddie, a man? Well, he was getting a little more muscular...

"My friend." I said.

"What was his name?" he said, raising his hairy eyebrows at me.

Freddie's mom would probably have a fit if I told her baby's name to a criminal, so I decided to make a name up. Well, kind of make one up. "Gibby." I said, quickly.

"He's not the one that makes that really good sauce, is he?" the guy asked.

I almost laughed, but kept my composure. "Well he might, I'm not too sure."

Before he could say anything else, Freddie came walking in the room, with a cop.

"You're free to go young lady. Just don't cause any more trouble." she said.

To make Freddie happy, I decided to play nice. "I won't ma'am."

"Okay. I hope not." she said, walking out of the hallway between the jail cells, leaving me, Freddie, and the criminal guy.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Freddie said, grabbing my arm.

We were walking out of the room, when the criminal guy said something.

"Bye Gibby. I love your sauce."

Freddie just looked bewildered.

**A/N: Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, sadly.

Freddie's P.O.V.:

"On the road again, on the road again." Sam sang, as we drove down the highway, anxious to get out of Ilwaco the next morning.

We both had our hands dangling out of the window. As much as I tried to mad at the blonde beside, I was finding it impossible. She just looked so happy, and carefree. Her blue eyes turned in my direction.

"Hey Freddo, where are we headed?" Sam asked me.

I shrugged. "I have no idea. Anything that looks cool, I guess."

We kept driving, and not much caught our eye. We were about 30 minutes out of Ilwaco, when Sam sighed dramatically.

"It's too quiet. You're not saying anything. We're not even fighting." Sam said, halfheartedly.

"Well, Samantha, I think it's because my mom has rubbed off on you." I said raising my eyebrows at her.

Sam got a devious look in her eye, and she suddenly looked happier. "Look Benson. First of all, never call me Samantha, and second of all, your mother will never rub off on me."

"I don't know about..." but then I stopped in mid-sentence. "Look."

Sam and I both looked out her window, and saw a sign. It pointed to something called Cape Disappointment State Park.

"Who would name their state park Cape Disappointment?" Sam asked.

"Someone who just got disappointed?" I asked, shrugging.

"Clever." Sam said, sarcastically.

We drove down the rather narrow road for a minute, before we came to log cabin type building. The sign said Information and Museum.

"You want to check it out?" I asked Sam.

Sam shrugged. "Whatever. I can't think of anything else to do. Maybe they have food in there." she said, as we both got out of my truck.

We walked down the small path to the museum, and all of the sudden, Sam tripped. She was about fall on her face, but I caught her quickly. I wrapped my arms around her waist, at the last second.

She turned a little bit in my arms, and our eyes met. Just as I was about to lean in, Sam looked away from me. She cleared her throat. "I don't know why I've been so clumsy lately." Sam said softly.

I smiled nervously. "Me neither."

Then, I kind of realized my arms were still wrapped around her waist, so I quickly released her. We both looked at the ground, and I kicked a little rock. This just got slightly more awkward. Sam, thank goodness, cleared her throat again, and broke the silence.

"Should we go inside?" she asked.

"Oh yeah. Sure." I said, following her through the double doors.

The inside of the museum/information center wasn't very big. There was a guy, who looked to be about our age at a desk, and some brochures. Across the room, was a few exhibit's about lighthouses. I guess there might be a lighthouse here. Sam walked to desk, at a brisk pace, and I came up behind her.

"Hey, do you have food here?" she asked the guy. I noticed his name-tag said Eric. He had blond hair, that Justin Bieber's hairstylist must have cut, and one blue eye, and one brown eye. I could already see Carly drooling all over him.

"Um, well, there's a vending machine out back, by the bathroom's." he said, with a smile at Sam. Sam smiled back, sweetly. Wait, Sam never uses that smile. She only uses that smile on me, Carly, or Spencer, when she wants something.

"Thanks, um." She looked down at his name-tag. "Eric."

"No problem. My friends call me Tweezer, though." he said, leaning over the counter a little more towards Sam.

I decided to cut in. "Tweezer?"

"Yeah, it's a long story." he answered, barely glancing at me. "So what's your name?" he asked Sam, flirtatiously. I had the urge to roll my eyes.

"Sam, and this my friend, Freddie." she answered back, using her Melanie voice. I narrowed my eyes at her for a second, and she glared back.

"Nice to meet you Sam." he said. I guess he would rather I not be there.

"Same here Tweezer." Sam said, giving another famous Puckett smile. My hand clenched tighter around the edge of the counter-top.

"Anything else I can do for you?" he asked, winking at Sam. Yes, actually winked at her. If I were Sam, I would find that totally creepy.

Then I noticed something, a sign that said Help Wanted. And Sam and I needed some money. "Hey, what's that Help Wanted sign for?" I asked.

"Oh, the guy that greets people at the lighthouse, he's on vacation for a few days, and we just need someone to do it while he's gone. They're going to pay 100 bucks to whoever is going to do it." Tweezer said.

Sam and I raised our eyebrows at each other. "I'll take it." I said.

Tweezer looked taken aback. "Well, I'll have to ask my boss." he said, disappearing behind a closed door.

Sam and I looked at each other, and high-fived. "Money, money, money." Sam sang, and I laughed.

"This is pretty lucky." I said, and Sam nodded. "What about that Tweezer guy? He seems kind of..."

But, Sam cut me off. "Hot?"

"No, that's not what I was going to say. I was going to say annoying." I said, glancing at the door he just went into.

"What? No, I thought he seemed sweet." she said, but before I could retort, the door opened, and Tweezer came out with a kind of heavyset gut with a long, dark brown beard.

"Eric here says, you want the greeter job for a few days." he said.

"Yes sir, I do." I answered, hoping to sound professional.

"How old are you?" he asked.

"I'm 17." I answered quickly.

"Okay, I guess you can have the job. And what about your girlfriend here?" he asked.

I was about to say something, when Sam answered for me. "Um, I'm not his girlfriend."

I noticed Tweezer's triumphant smirk, when she said that. "Okay then, friend. What about her?"

Tweezer cut in. "I've been needing some help around the museum sir?" I almost groaned.

"No you don't. And young lady, you can just help your friend here with his job, and I'll pay you both." Sam squeezed my arm, happily. "Also, you can stay in the lighthouse greeter's yurt while he's on vacation."

I looked at Sam in confusion. "What's a yurt?" she asked.

"It looks like a tent, but it's supported with wood. Inside, it has a set of bunk beds, a dresser with a mirror, and a chair." he answered.

Sam and I shrugged. "Good enough for us." I said.

"Okay, here's the direction's to it," he handed me a piece of paper with a map on it. "And come back here in the morning, and I'll explain what you have to do. Have fun." he said, as the two of us walked out of the building, back outside.

"I'm kind of excited to stay in a yurt." I said, happily.

"Me too." Sam said, skipping down towards the truck.

We got in, and I started the car. "You're just excited because you'll get to see Tweezer again." I said, as I backed out.

"Why do you think he's annoying?" Sam asked.

"Because I think he's cocky." I answered.

Sam laughed. "Cocky? Fredwardo, he never said anything that was remotely cocky."

"He didn't have to say anything, I could just tell." I said.

"Whatever. I think you're judging him too soon." she said, looking at me.

"Maybe." I answered, but I had a gut feeling I was right about him.

**A/N: Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, sadly.

"Whoa." I heard Sam say, as I dragged our luggage in behind her.

I stepped into the yurt behind her, and grinned. The yurt was so cool. It had a wooden floor, with tent walls, some bunk beds, a dresser, and a small couch. It had two little windows, and a table with two chairs.

"This is nice. So much better than sleeping on the ground." I commented.

"Agreed." Sam said, as I hauled our luggage into the corner. Of course I had to do all of the work.

"For once." I answered, as I plopped down on the little couch. Sam sat down beside me, and smirked.

"Hey, we've been getting along a little better. We don't actually have major blowout fights like we used to." she said, elbowing me in the side. At least it wasn't very hard.

"Yeah, we just kind banter now." I answered.

Sam laughed. "Yeah, we do banter. In the dictionary, beside the word banter, there would be a picture of us."

I gasped, in an overly-dramatic way. "Sam Puckett, knows what a dictionary is?"

She elbowed me again, this time harder. "I know what a dictionary is, I just don't use one."

"Ow." I complained, but Sam just grinned.

"So, what are we going to have for lunch, and then supper?" she asked.

"Is that all you can think about? Food?" I asked.

"Um, kind of. Just answer the question." she said, and she laid her legs across my lap.

"Okay, well, I guess we'll have to pick out things from the vending machine..." I said.

Sam's eyes lit up. "Yes! Fat-cakes!" she said.

I smiled. "Yeah, Sam. Lots and lots of fat-cakes."

OooooooooooooooooooooooO

Sam and I stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the vending machine, both of our heads cocked to the side. This was a harder decision than we thought.

"Well, if we get 9 fat-cakes, and 2 bags of chips, we could share?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, okay, we'll each get a bag of chips, and you get five fat-cakes, and I'll take four." I said.

"No, I'll take eight fat-cakes, and you have one." Sam said.

"Right, I should have known." I said, sarcastically.

Sam laughed lightly. "Okay fine, seven and two."

"Better." I said, and we laughed. "But, can I shoot for six and three?"

Sam did a fake little sigh. "I suppose. But, when we get back to Seattle in a few months, you have to buy me some beef jerky."

"It's a deal." I said. All sarcasm aside, I know she'll hold me to that.

After we got back in the car, Sam gasped. "What is it?" I asked, quickly, thinking something was wrong.

"We forgot about getting things for supper." she said.

"Oh yeah." I answered.

"Well, do something about it!" she yelled.

"Alright, alright. I'll go back to the vending machine, and get something else." I said, getting ready to get out of the truck.

"No wait, do you want to go grocery shopping?" Sam asked, and I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Grocery shopping?" I asked.

"Yes, I said that, nub." she said, smirking.

I just sighed, and got back into the truck. "First of all, I'm not seeing a grocery store. Second of all, we only have about one-hundred dollars, which I am not blowing on ham and beef jerky. We already spent enough on fat-cakes."

"Okay, I saw a grocery store about a mile before we got here. And, I am willing to give up getting beef jerky, and we only have to buy one container of ham." she said.

I grinned. "Fine. But how are we going to keep groceries fresh and stuff?"

"Oh Benson, we'll figure out something. We always figure out something." she said, and I just shrugged.

"Okay, we can go grocery shopping." I said, and I didn't really care about how much money we spent, the moment I saw Sam's eyes light up.

OooooooooooooooooooooooO

"I got the cart." Sam said, pushing a blue cart through the small grocery store.

"Okay." I answered, and I grinned at her pushing the wobbly-wheeled cart. I could tell it was hard to keep under control.

"This thing will not go where I want it to. It keeps veering over to the side." she complained.

"Do you want me to push it?" I asked.

"No, Benson. I got this." she said, determinedly.

"Okay, if you say so." I said, surveying the aisles.

Sam disappeared off towards the meat products, so I looked for other things we needed. I got the cheapest bag of bread, jar of peanut butter, and package of cheese I could find. I also got some Peppy-Cola.

"Fredward!" I heard Sam yell across the store. I inwardly groaned. Did she have to yell my full name all the way across the store. I slowly walked over to the meat products, and then saw a flash of blonde curls.

"Yes, Samantha. You called?" I asked, smirking.

"Don't call me that. And, yes, I did call. Look." she said, pointing to a pallet of small coolers.

"What? Coolers?" I asked.

"Yes, to keep the food fresh." she said, looking at me like I was stupid.

"Oh right." I answered, smiling at her.

"Well, they're only sixteen dollars, which we can afford." she said.

"Okay, we can get it." I said, and I lifted one of of the pallet. It was green, with a white lid. I sat it in the cart.

I put the other food I got in the cart, and Sam put in a package of ham, and a package of turkey. I just smiled. I grabbed a bag of ice, and we set off to check out.

OooooooooooooooooooooooO

I carried the cooler into our yurt, Sam behind me. I sat it in the corner, and Sam was pulling the yurt tent doors closed, and zipping them up. She was looking out of the small windows, when I walked up behind her. She looked kind of nervous.

"Hey, everything alright?" I asked, and she looked at me.

"Just fine, nub." she said shakily.

"Seriously Sam, what's wrong?" I asked.

Sam sighed. "It's just, look at the sky." she said, gesturing out the window.

I looked outside, and noticed dark, black clouds building up in the west. It looked like it might be a pretty bad storm. It didn't really bother me though.

"It's just a thunderstorm Sam." I said, and her blue eyes met mine.

"I really don't like thunderstorms Freddie." she said, and I had never heard her sound so, quiet.

"It's going to be okay." I said softly, and then we heard the first big crack of thunder. Sam flinched, and moved closer to me.

Sam was my best friend, and I really didn't enjoy seeing her so freaked out. I want the old wise-cracking Sam back. But, I think she needed me right now. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder's, and led her back to the small, brown couch. It was soft and comfy. We sat down, Sam practically sitting on my lap. I held her tightly, when I realized she was shaking. Who knew Sam Puckett was so scared of storms? Sam suddenly looked up at me, from where her head was in the crook of my neck.

"Don't breathe a word of this to anyone." she said, threateningly.

"Don't worry about it." I said, and Sam nodded.

We just sat on that couch, silently for a while. All you could hear was the rain, and the continuous cracks of thunder, and then the yurt being lit up for a second when the lightning flashed. I could hear Sam breathing, and I pulled her closer. It felt nice to have her need me. I liked the feeling. After a about five minutes, Sam finally broke the silence.

"I don't know why storms scare me so much." she said, shakily.

"Well, we're all scared of something." I answered, and Sam looked at me.

"What are you scared of?" she asked.

"Well, snakes freak me out." I murmured, and Sam smiled softly. There was something so peaceful about being stuck in a yurt with her, talking about what we were scared of. We weren't thinking about college, or anything stressful, just each other.

"Snakes don't really bother me." Sam said, as I played with a strand of her blonde curls.

"Well, they really bother me." I said, as I gave an involuntary shiver.

Sam sighed, and rested her head on my shoulder. "Thanks."

"For what?" I asked, confusedly.

"For not laughing at me." she said.

"Why would I laugh at you?" I asked.

"Because it's pretty stupid I'm scared of storms." she said.

"And it's pretty stupid I'm scared of snakes." I said.

"I'm glad you're here." she whispered in the darkness of the yurt.

"Me too." I whispered back.

After a while, we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with some Peppy-Cola. After we plopped back down on the couch, and I had officially distracted Sam from the storm going on outside, Sam intertwined her fingers with mine.

"Do you want to play a game?" she asked.

I nodded. "Like what?"

"How about Truth or Dare?" she asked.

"Okay, Truth or Dare?" I asked her.

She thought for a minute. "I normally would say Dare, but I'll go out on a limb, and say Truth."

I grinned. "Why did you apply to Stanford?"

"Just because, I wanted to see if I could get in or not." she casually answered. I just stared at her, and she sighed. "And because I didn't want to leave you."

I grinned triumphantly. "I knew it!"

"Don't let that ego swell up too much bigger Benson, your head will explode." she said, and I laughed.

"Don't worry about that." I said, and she grinned.

"I won't, Truth or Dare?" she asked.

"Truth." I said, with a crooked smile.

"Okay, remember when you dated Carly, after you saved her life?" she asked, her eyes searching mine.

"Yeah." I said, quietly.

"Did you feel anything when you kissed her?" Sam asked, and she looked genuinely curious.

I closed my eyes for a second, trying to think of what to say. "Not really."

Sam raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yes, really. I wouldn't lie to you. We just didn't have much of a passion for each other. Carly's like my sister." I finished, giving her an explanation.

Sam looked deep in thought. "Oh." was all she said.

"Why would you ask that question?" I wondered out loud.

Sam glanced at me for a second. "I've just always wondered."

"Why didn't you ask Carly?" I asked.

"We don't talk about when you two dated. It's almost like she avoids the subject. She's always done that." Sam said, softly. I realized we were still holding hands.

"It was kind of awkward. She just wanted to kiss me." I said.

"That's because you're good at it." she said, and I almost choked on my own spit. Sam turned bright red, realizing what she said.

"Really?" I managed to ask.

Sam just nodded, blushing. I smiled secretly to myself. So Sam thought I was a good kisser?

"Don't let that go to your head either Benson." she said, still looking slightly embarrassed.

I just smiled. "Okay, truth or dare?"

"Truth." Sam said again. She usually picked dare, and it's really odd she picked truth twice in a row.

I tried to think of something to ask her. "Have you ever been in love?" I finally asked.

Sam raised her eyebrows at me. "Well, no." she finished.

"What about that Pete kid?" I asked, and Sam just scoffed.

"Freddie, I think you don't really understand the concept of being in love with someone." she said, and I looked into her blue eyes.

"Then explain it to me, since you totally understand it ." I said, sarcastically.

Sam gave me a crooked grin. "You think being in love with someone is just a little feeling of butterflies when you see someone. Or when you obsessively stalk someone for three years." she said, and I looked at her sheepishly. "I think being in love with someone means you can't stand to be away from them, and you both feel a huge connection to each other. Being attracted to the other person is just a part of it." she finished.

I was pretty shocked that Sam Puckett was that deep. I have always been jealous of the fact she seemed to understand things more than I did, or how she was so full of life.

"Wow." I managed.

Sam shrugged. "So, I was never in love with Pete. Or anyone else, yet."

"And I was never in love with Carly." I said, and Sam smiled softly at me.

"I never thought you were." she said.

We spent the rest of the afternoon talking and laughing. We ate a supper of fat-cakes and ham, which I have to admit was pretty yummy. Sam liked it, anyways.

It was getting pretty late, and Sam was curled up against me on the couch. Even though it was summer, it still got pretty chilly at night. Especially in Washington. Since the yurt didn't have heating or air-conditioning, it was the same temperature as outside.

"Sam, what do you..." I trailed off, because I realized she had fallen asleep on my shoulder. As I looked down at her blonde curls falling onto my shoulder's, I thought I might actually understand the concept of love.

**A/N: I hope I kind of kept Sam and Freddie in character in this chapter. It's kind of hard to do that if they're having a serious discussion. I hope you're liking this story so far! Thanks so much for reading, and please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, sadly.

Sam's P.O.V.:

I woke up the next morning, my arms wrapped around something hard. I slowly opened my eyes, and shifted slightly. When I fully could grasp my surrounding's, I gasped. I was laying on top of Freddie on the couch, my head on his shoulder.

He had his arms wrapped around my waist, and he was snoring slightly. He actually looked pretty cute while he was asleep. I didn't want him to notice our position, and wake up, so I tried to get up off of him. He just pulled me back down, his arms tighter around my waist. It was no use, I had to just lay here. It was actually kind of comfortable.

Freddie smiled in his sleep, and I laid my head back down onto his shoulder. He wasn't awake, and this felt nice. He was my best friend, and I couldn't like of a reason not to snuggle with him like this. My thoughts drifted to our conversation last night.

I remember him telling me how he never really loved Carly. I smiled to myself. Freddie was almost a totally different person going into college than when he was in sixth grade. He was thoughtful, smart, and as much as I wouldn't want to say this to his face, ruggedly handsome.

His brown hair was longer now, and he didn't have such a nerdy haircut anymore. His jawbone was defined now, and he had lost all of that baby fat from when he was younger. I could see Freddie's muscles through his shirt, and I knew he went to the gym almost every day.

Girls fawned all over him now. It makes me slightly sick to the stomach. Freddie doesn't really let it go to his head though. He just brushes it off, but still ends up with a date almost every Friday night. The only times he doesn't, is when I tell him he's going to do something with me.

I sighed, thinking about my guy best friend. Why did I constantly notice things about him? My own brain honestly freaks me out sometimes.

I felt Freddie shift in his sleep, and he mumbled something about meat. I was rubbing off on him.

"Sam, are you awake?" I heard him ask, his voice even sounded sleepy.

"Yeah." I mumbled.

"Good morning." Freddie said softly, and I looked up at him.

"Good morning to you." I said, and we smiled at each other.

"You're being unusually nice to me." Freddie commented, and I just grinned, messing up his hair a little bit. I was liking this position we were in, even if it was Fredward.

"I guess I'm in a nice mood. You never know when it might change." I said, smirking.

Freddie groaned, but his eyes were shining. I looked down at his face. "Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked me, and I blushed.

"Um, like what?" I asked.

"All happy-like. You weren't even scowling or anything." he said, and he suddenly sat up, forcing me to get off of him. I sat down by him on the couch again.

"Can't I act like we're friends? You've always said we need to act more like..." I said, but Freddie cut me off.

"But you haven't insulted me much, and we hug a lot more." Freddie said, and looked at me.

I sighed. "You want me to beat you up?"

"No, of course not." Freddie said, but he grinned at me.

"Because I will." I said, eying him. "And I know I'll win." I said, and Freddie's eyes narrowed.

"Oh, you are so going down Puckett." he said, but before he could do anything I tackled him off of the couch. We spent a few minutes wrestling, and Freddie was definitely a worthy opponent against me.

He finally got me pinned to the ground, and raised his fist in the air victoriously. But then, his cell phone rang. He still had me pinned, as he slipped his PearPhone out of his pocket. But, I noticed a weak spot when he put his phone up to his ear, and kicked him in the gut. He squealed, actually squealed, which was hilarious, and then groaned. I heard Carly's voice on the other end, as I stood up, brushing myself off.

Freddie was laying on the ground in pain. Wimp, I hadn't kicked him that hard. Somehow, her had managed to keep the phone up to his ear. And, Carly talked so loud on the phone, I could hear every word she was saying.

"Freddie, what's happening? Why did you groan like that?" Carly asked.

Freddie glared at me, and I smirked at him. "Because, Sam and I were wrestling, and I had her pinned down, and then she kicked me in the stomach." he explained.

"Freddie, why do you insist on wrestling with her. You always end up getting hurt." I heard Carly say.

"I know there's a chance someday I might win." Freddie said, casting a sideways glance at me. I grinned, but I rolled my eyes.

"No there's not." I whispered to him, and he did his famous smirk at me.

I heard Carly on the other end. "Freddie, let me talk to Sam." she said, and Freddie handed me the phone.

"Hey Carly." I said, smiling.

"Hey Sam! How's everything going? I still can't believe you went on a trip with Freddie..." she said.

I laughed. "Well, Freddie and I are out of money, I got arrested but Freddie bailed me out, and now we're working at some remote State park staying in a yurt."

Carly laughed. "Good one. Now tell me the truth."

"That is the truth." I said, and Freddie, who was sitting beside me now, laughed.

"You're serious?" Carly asked.

"Oh yeah. But I seriously am having fun. Even if I am with Fredward." I said, and Freddie rolled his eyes.

"As long as you too are having fun. Oh and Sam, you'll never believe what Shane said..." Carly ranted a long story about how sweet her boyfriend was, and I listened patiently. Usually I wasn't patient with people, but Carly was a different story. She was like my sister. Carly then started talking about Spencer's latest sculpture, which sounded cool, as usual.

"Hey Sam, we have to get up to the main office. It's time for work." Freddie said, and I groaned.

"Carls, I have to go. Fredwardo and I have to go to work." I said, halfheartedly.

"Okay, Sam. I'll talk to you later. Be careful." she said, and I could just envision her worried facial expression.

"We'll be careful. Talk to you later!" I said, and hung up. Freddie was grinning at me when I hung up.

"What?" I asked, trying to sound halfway annoyed.

"Oh nothing. It's just if I would've talked to you that long on the phone, you would've yelled at me, and made me go pick up some ice cream for you or something." he said, and I laughed.

"Carly's like my sister. I wouldn't yell at her and make her get me ice cream." I said, and Freddie smirked.

"You've yelled at her before." he said.

"Only when we're both really mad." I said, and Freddie looked at me for a minute, thoughtfully.

"You said Carly's like your sister, so does that mean I'm like your brother?" he asked, and his question caught me off guard.

"Um, no, you're not like my brother." I said, and I could see the hurt flash across Freddie's eyes.

"Oh." he said quietly.

"Don't get all insulted. I haven't finished. What I was getting ready to say was, that you're my best friend, but I just don't feel all brotherly sisterly towards you. I just can't figure it out." I said, with a huff.

Freddie grinned. "Oh." he said, but this time it was confident and cocky sounding oh.

I just rolled my eyes. "Come on, we have to get ready for work."

He nodded, and we walked over to our suitcases. I picked out a simple white t-shirt with some denim shorts, and Freddie pulled out a blue t-shirt with some khaki cargo shorts. Suddenly, memories came flooding back to me.

_ I knocked on his window on a bright Saturday morning. I was ready to do something fun, and Carly had a date with Shane today. So Freddie was my only acceptable option. He opened his window, sticking his head out._

"_Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked, helping me inside._

"_I was bored. Carly's going on a date with Shane today." I said, and Freddie nodded, completely understanding. _

_ I took a look at him, while sucking on a lollipop I found on my kitchen counter. He was still in his pajamas, and green Galaxy Wars t-shirt, and blue sleep pants. He didn't look too bad. I didn't want him to know that, though. He was already cocky enough._

"_Nice blue lips." he said, commenting on the fact my blue raspberry lollipop had stained my lips blue._

"_Nice pajamas." I said, and Freddie smirked._

"_Touche." he said, and I sat down on his bed, complete with Galaxy Wars sheets, at sixteen years old._

"_Go get dressed, and then we can go somewhere." I told him, and Freddie sighed, acting like he didn't want to go anywhere with me. He was so faking._

"_Fine, fine." he said, walking over to his closet, and opening it. He surveyed his options. He pulled out a blue t-shirt and a pair of shorts. Then, he looked over at me. "Close your eyes." he said, and I did._

_ After he got dressed, we left his apartment (his mom was at an Aggressive Parenting conference, she goes to a lot of those), and we rode the bus to the beach. _

_ The beach was beautiful today. The dark blue of the water sparkled against the sunlight, and hardly anyone was around. I walked next to Freddie, my toes squishing on the sand. Freddie and I stayed quiet, content in the comfortable silence, each deep in our own thoughts. After a few minutes, Freddie spoke up. _

"_I've been thinking about something." he said, and he looked kind of nervous._

"_Well, speak up." I said, smirking, hoping it wasn't too serious._

"_Do you still have a crush on Spencer?" he asked, and I looked at him in surprise. _

"_What? Why would you ask that?" I asked, and Freddie looked down at the sand._

"_I was just wondering. I remember when you said you did, when Spencer was pulling all of those pranks." he said, and I thought about what he said for a second,before answering._

"_No, I don't have a crush on him. It was just a little crush, like a lot of girls go through. A crush on their best friends brother." I said, and Freddie grinned._

"_If you guys got married, you'd actually be Carly's sister." Freddie said, and I laughed._

"_Well, that would be nice. But, trust me, I don't want to marry Spencer." I said._

_Freddie nodded, like he understood. "Well Princess Puckett..." he started to say, but before he could finish, I splashed him with a little bit of water._

_ His brown eyes widened slightly, and I grinned, and we both automatically understood. It was so on. He splashed me back, and before we both knew it, we were wrestling in the water, our clothes getting soaked. I didn't care though. After a while, we got tired, since neither one of us could pin then other down, because we were equal matches now. _

_ We continued to walk down the beach, our wet clothes clinging to our bodies. I looked over at Freddie, and was surprised at what I saw. Since his blue t-shirt was wet, it showed off all of his muscles. He had really buffed up. I could see biceps, and even a six-pack. He looked over at me, noticing I was looking at him._

"_Are you checking me out, Puckett?" he asked._

_I tried to suppress a blush, and I shook my head, furiously. "No, of course not. You're a nub, remember?" _

_End of Flashback_

We both got dressed, and left the yurt. On the way up to the front office, I elbowed Freddie.

"What was that for?" he asked, massaging his side, where my elbow hit him.

"You're just a nub."

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. I'll try to update sooner for the next chapter! I hope you liked this one! Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

1

**Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, sadly. **

Sam's P.O.V:

The next few days weren't the most exciting. They consisted of greeting retired couples and ushering them into an old lighthouse. Freddie and I were so tired by the end of the day there was no time to do much talking or planning. Finally, it was time to leave.

Freddie and I had only been back to the information center once to get instructions for our job. Tweezer was at the counter, and he smiled at me. He was extremely hot, but I knew I didn't truly like him. He actually kind of bothered me. I mean, Tweezer? What kind of name is that? I could tell Freddie didn't really like him.

The fat guy paid Freddie one-hundred dollars, which I guess we were supposed to split. That really wasn't necessary because Freddie bought me everything anyways. Freddie thanked the man, and Eric cleared his throat.

"Hey Sam, can I talk to you?" he asked, and winked at me.

I shrugged. "Sure."

Freddie looked at me. His look told me to be careful. I glared at him and followed Tweezer outside.

"Sam, I was just wondering if I could call you after you leave?" he asked.

I started to get a little uncomfortable. He look was creepy. "Well, I don't know you very well."

"You could get to know me," he said quietly, moving closer to me.

"No thanks," I said, pushing him back. I could tell he was strong. Maybe stronger than I was. He kept pushing me back, and I struggled against him. "Stop it," I seethed.

Before I realized what was happening, Tweezer fell backwards and Freddie was standing there. I could see blood gushing out of Tweezer's nose. Freddie must have punched him.

Tweezer was still on the ground, and Freddie grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the truck. "Let's get out of here," he said.

We jumped in the car, since Tweezer was coming after Freddie, blood still pouring down his face. Freddie slammed the car into drive and screeched out of the parking lot. He still looked angry. I was mad too, at Freddie.

"You know, I can take care of myself," I said angrily.

Freddie glared at me. "Sam, I had to step in back there. He was trying to kiss you."

"I could've protected myself!" I yelled, and Freddie looked just as mad as I did.

"Obviously not. Sam, you've just got to accept that some guys are stronger than you," his voice was raised above its normal level.

"Well, stop trying to protect me all the time," I complained.

"Sam, I know you're strong. I just thought you looked like you could use some help," Freddie said, and I could tell that he was calming down. He never stayed mad long, especially at me.

I didn't feel like talking to him anymore, so I just sunk down in my seat and glared out the window. I could tell Freddie was getting desperate to talk to me.

Finally, he said, "Sam, I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to get hurt. I am your best friend, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," I mumbled. I turned away from the window and saw Freddie's grin. I knew he was happy that things were normal again.

Freddie turned on the radio and we didn't say much for a while. I glanced over at him, and he still had a slightly worried look on his face. I knew he was thinking about what would've happened to me if he hadn't been there. Freddie always thought about the what if's. I decided to take his mind off of it.

"I bet Tweezer's nose is broken, with how hard you threw that punch at him. It looked painful," I said, smiling at Freddie.

A smile made its way onto his face. "Yeah, it did look like it hurt pretty bad."

"Maybe you could've beaten Gibby that one time he wanted to fight you," I said, and it was the truth. I didn't realize back then how strong Freddie really was.

"I don't know," Freddie looked doubtful, "Like you guys said, Gibby's... thick."

I laughed. Talking about fighting suddenly reminded me of something. "Who would win in a fight, a duck or a large toad?" I asked Freddie.

This led to a long conversation about ducks and toads, which led to other topics until we realized we were coming up on the bridge that was inbetween Washington and Oregon. The drive was short to the next town, and by that time Freddie and I were both getting tired. Freddie pulled over at a Mallmart.

"What are we doing?" I asked.

"Well, I think we should buy a tent," Freddie said.

I raised my eyebrows. "Why?"

"Because, we can't afford hotels. We have about $125.00 right now, and we need to make it last. I think we can afford campgrounds for a while. Is it okay with you?" he asked.

I shrugged. "As long as I get food."

Freddie laughed. "We'll have plenty of food, trust me."

After the buying of a tent, two cheap sleeping bags, and two even cheaper pillows, the two of us pulled into the nearest campground. It was pretty cheap, which was good, but when Freddie had to go to the bathroom, he reported back that they were disgusting. I told him he should go in the woods anyways.

We pulled up to our campsite. Freddie opened the box that the tent was in, and pulled out the directions.

"Great," he mumbled.

"What?" I asked, while digging in our cooler for some leftover fat-cakes that I got out of the vending machine at Cape Disappointment.

"The directions are in Korean," he said, and I laughed.

"Have fun with that," I said, biting into a fat-cake.

"You could help me, you know," he said, looking over at me.

I sighed, "I guess I could help you."

I walked over to him. It was almost completely dark, and it was hard to see all the parts. Somehow, we put it together and we stepped back to look at our work.

"It's not very big," I said, glancing at Freddie.

"No, it's not. But it'll work," he said, glancing at me, "Right?"

"I guess so."

I put my pajamas on inside the tent, while Freddie put his on in the truck. I crawled into my sleeping bag. I picked out a bright red one, while Freddie's was a deep blue. It was fairly warm, but I still felt a little chill from the night air. A few seconds later, Freddie climbed into the tent, and zipped up the door behind him. He crawled into his sleeping bag too. We were pressed up against each other since the tent was so small. Freddie glanced over at me.

"So what did you want to do when we get to San Francisco?"

"I want to ride a street car," I said. For some reason, I had always wanted to see San Francisco. It sounded like a city that I would love, with all of its character and things that other cities didn't have, like the Fisherman's Wharf.

"Oh," Freddie said softly, and I glanced at him.

His face wasn't very far from mine, and he was looking at me. His eyes were gleaming in the soft moonlight that fell over the tent. I felt a crazy urge to kiss him, but I didn't.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"For what?" Freddie whispered back.

"For stopping him," I answered him softly.

Freddie didn't say anything else, but he took my hand. He squeezed it, and I rubbed little circles in his hand with my thumb. We held hands the whole night.

**A/N: I'm so sorry for the extremely long time it took me to update this. There's really no excuse for it. But now, since it's summer, I'll be able to update more often. Thank you so much for keeping up with this story, and please continue to read it and review! Again, thanks for reading. :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, sadly.**

Freddie's P.O.V:

Sunlight streamed in through the thin fabric walls of the tent. I opened my eyes slowly, trying to adjust to the light. Sam was fast asleep beside me, and I realized our hands were still intertwined. Sam's blonde hair was spread around her on her pillow, and I had the urge to run my fingers through it. I put that thought out of my mind. She would probably kill me if I did that.

Her hand lay loosely in mine, and she had a soft smile on her face while she slept. I wondered what she was dreaming about. My thoughts wandered to what Sam said last night. She actually said thank you for something, which was crazy in itself. But to thank me for protecting her, that was even crazier.

I remembered how I felt when I saw him trying to kiss her. Anger had taken over all of my senses. I wanted to do a lot worse to Tweezer than just break his nose, but I didn't have time. I was just happy Sam was safe and happy beside me, and everything was back to normal. Well, almost. Normal usually didn't entail Sam and I holding hands. But, I think it's okay for things to be abnormal for a while.

I closed my eyes again, hoping to fall back asleep for a little bit, because I could tell it was still early. But Sam had other plans.

"Freddie," she said groggily. I opened my eyes and saw that she was just beginning to wake up.

"Good morning Sam," I said.

"Morning, Fredward," she said. I guess all the sweetness she had before we went to sleep had disappeared.

"What do you want to do today?' I asked.

"I have no idea," Sam said, and she seemed to realize we were still holding hands. She looked down, but she didn't let go. I was surprised.

"We could just keep driving," I said.

Sam grinned. "We could, or we could go swimming."

"Swimming?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Yeah, I just feel like it for some reason," she said.

"Okay, sounds good to me too," I said.

I got on my Pear phone and looked up the nearest pools. There was a pool in Astoria, the nearest town. We put on our bathing suits and headed out. I pulled the truck into the pool parking lot. It was still pretty early in the day, only about 10:00 a.m, so the pool was fairly empty. We paid at the window and put our stuff on one of those plastic chairs.

The water looked so good, especially because even though it was morning, the day was hot. I pulled off my t-shirt, and Sam pulled off her tank top and shorts. My eyes widened slightly. She looked good in bikini. Very good.

"Stop looking at me like that Benson," Sam said, but her cheeks were a little red.

I looked down quickly, and Sam grabbed my arm pulling me towards the water. Before I knew what she was doing, I felt myself falling into the pool. The water was cold, but it felt good. I surfaced, and felt a splash next to me.

"Why did you have to do that Sam?" I complained. Sam just snickered.

She swam away from me and I followed her. "Where are you going?"

"Just swimming Benson, you don't have to follow me around."

"Well, I don't really feel like being alone," I said.

Sam grinned. "Freddie..." But before she could finish what she was saying, I heard another voice.

"Hi, what's your name?" a girl asked.

I turned to face the voice. To my surprise, it was a very pretty girl. She had long brown hair and deep green eyes.

"I'm Freddie, this is my friend Sam," I said, and Sam gave a curt nod in the girl's direction.

"Hi Freddie," I guess she chose to ignore Sam, "I'm Teresa."

"Do you live around here Teresa?" I asked. Maybe she would give Sam and me some good ideas of what to do the rest of the day.

"Yeah, I actually just live a few blocks from here. What about you?" she asked, and she put her hand on my shoulder. Sam's eyes darted to her hand.

"We're from Seattle," I said, and Teresa's eyes lit up like she realized something.

"Wait, aren't you guys from that old web show iCarly?" she asked.

Sam decided to say something. "Yes, we are. Freddie was the tech producer and I was the co-host." I could tell she didn't like Teresa.

"Oh, well, I always thought that you were so cute," she said to me, and I raised my eyebrows.

But I wasn't really sure what to say, especially with Sam right next to me, "Well...thanks," I ended up saying.

"Your welcome. So I was wondering, would you like to go out tonight?" she asked suddenly.

I looked at Sam, and she raised her eyebrows very slightly. I knew her so well, that I could easily tell it was a no.

"Well..." I said, but Sam interrupted me.

"I'm his girlfriend, so no, you can't go out with him," she said angrily and pulled me away from Teresa.

I stared at Sam. "What? You're not my girlfriend," I said, shocked, once we were out of earshot.

"I know that, but she was bad news Freddie, I could tell. You don't want to go out with someone like her, trust me. So I decided to help you out before you made a horrible decision. You can thank me now."

"I can choose who I want to go out with, you know," I said, but Sam just scoffed.

"Obviously you need someone to choose for you, if you want to go out with her," Sam said, and I rolled my eyes.

"She seemed nice enough," I said, and this time it was Sam's turn to roll her eyes.

"She wasn't. She would've ditched you for the next cute guy she saw come along. Don't pretend like you don't know that," she said, and I sighed.

"I guess you're right. But, you didn't have to say you were my girlfriend. You could've just said we were busy tonight or something. Plus, I already said you were just my friend when I introduced you."

"Yeah, well, she's not smart enough to remember that," Sam said, and I grinned.

"I think she's pretty smart. I mean, she wanted to date me," I said, knowing that would get a rise out of Sam. I expected her to say something sarcastic, but she didn't.

"Maybe she is smart."

**A/N: Hopefully this was a quick enough update. :) Thank you so much for reading and please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

1**Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, sadly.**

Sam's P.O.V:

The pool that felt so good when I jumped in with Freddie suddenly felt cold when I saw that girl. She annoyed me immediately. She looked at Freddie like he was food she wanted or something. She didn't know the real Freddie. The one that read Nicholas Sparks and was obsessed with Galaxy Wars. The one that is my best friend and always will be. That was what bothered me about her. It was the same feeling I got whenever any girl showed interest in Freddie.

With Teresa still watching Freddie from across the pool, and I asked Freddie if we could leave. Freddie shrugged and I dragged him out of the pool.

We got into the truck and Freddie seemed to be deep in thought. I thought about asking him what he was thinking about, but decided against it. If I gave him enough time, he would bring it up on his own. After a few minutes of driving in silence, Freddie suddenly slammed the truck into a Mallmart parking lot.

"What are you doing?" I said, staring at Freddie.

"Sam, look," he said, pointing in the direction of a purple Mini Cooper.

I gasped. Melanie was getting out of the Mini Cooper. "What is she doing here?' I asked.

"Let's find out," Freddie said, parking the truck a few spaces away from Melanie's car.

I sighed. "Do we have to?" I whined.

Freddie gave a little half-smile, half-smirk. It was my favorite of Freddie's expressions. "Sam, she's your sister who we barely ever see. Of course we do."

I half-heartedly got out of the truck and followed Freddie towards Melanie. She didn't notice us until we were only about three steps behind her.

"Sam? Freddie?" she said, surprised when she saw us.

"Yeah, that's us," I muttered. Freddie glared at me for a second. I could tell he wanted me to be more enthusiastic.

"Hey Melanie," Freddie said happily. "How have you been?"

"Really good," she said. "Now I have to give you two a hug. It's been so long." She squeezed us both until we could barely breathe.

After she released us, I asked, "What are you doing in northern Oregon?"

"Well, I was driving up to Seattle to see you and mom. I guess I didn't have to drive as far as I thought to see you. What are you doing here in Astoria?" she asked.

"Freddie and I are taking a road trip before college," I answered.

"Where's Carly?" Melanie asked, looking behind us as if Carly would suddenly appear.

"She wanted to stay home with her boyfriend," Freddie answered.

"I thought you two fought all the time. Why would you want to take a road trip together?" she asked. Freddie smirked at me, like he was asking me the same question, only sarcastically.

"I don't mind fighting," I said.

Freddie grinned. "Neither do I."

Melanie stared at us like we were crazy. "Okay..."

Freddie looked like he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, Melanie. I never got the chance to apologize about the way I treated you on our date. I truly thought you were Sam tricking me."

Melanie laughed. "Every time I've met you, you've been pretty wrapped up in Sam."

"Sorry about that," Freddie said, and I laughed.

"Wait, have you ever met him besides the time he asked you out?" I asked, confused.

"I didn't think Melanie was real, because you told me she wasn't the day after our date. Then, about a year later, I was mad at you about something. We had a huge argument and I drove to your house to apologize. When I got there, who I thought was you answered the door and I started in on this long apology speech. Then, Melanie explained it was her and not you," Freddie said, he still looked embarrassed.

Melanie laughed at the memory. "You should have heard him Sam. He sounded so desperate."

"We hadn't talked for a while, I was getting worried about you," Freddie said, looking at me.

I just grinned at him. "Was it the time you tried to get me to study and told me I wasn't going to be able to get a job?"

"Yeah, I think I said some other stuff that was pretty mean. I just can't remember it all," he said.

I smirked. "I wasn't that mad. I just liked to see you squirm." Freddie rolled his eyes.

Melanie giggled. "You guys are so cute."

"Cute?" we asked at the same time. We looked at each other. Why did we always have to say things at the same time.

"Yes, cute," she said, still smiling. "You bicker all the time, but you're still best friends. It's just cute."

I rolled my eyes, and Freddie smirked at me. "I really don't understand that at all," I said.

Melanie smiled at me. "You just have these little looks you give each other."

I groaned. "Let's move on to a new topic."

"No, I want to hear more about this," Freddie said, but I sent him my famous Puckett glare. "Never mind. I don't want to hear about it," he said quickly.

Melanie just giggled. "So Sam, the reason I was coming home to see you and mom was to share some news."

"What news?" I asked, half-interested, half-not.

"I'm getting married!" she squealed and gave me another bone-crushing hug. I looked at Freddie over my shoulder. He looked shocked.

I pulled away from Melanie. "But, you're only eighteen." I spluttered.

"I know. But people in the 1800s got married at age sixteen sometimes. And I just know he's the one Sam. We're best friends. There's no point in waiting to get married," she said happily.

"Well, who is he?" I asked.

"His name is John Winterfield. You're going to love him Sam. I can't wait for you to meet him," she said.

"Neither can I," I said, but my voice didn't sound very happy. I sent Freddie a sideways glance. He still looked completely shocked.

"Congratulations Melanie," he managed to say.

"Thank you Freddie!" she said, giving him another hug. "You're going to like him too. He loves technology. He's kind of a nerd."

Freddie smiled. "Sam and I will have to drive down and meet him."

"Yes, you will!" she said excitedly. "How about coming to San Francisco later this summer?"

"That's where we're headed," Freddie said.

"That's great! Call me when you get to San Francisco. I should be back from Seattle by then. We'll meet you and Sam for coffee," Melanie said.

She gave us both another hug. "Well, I'll see you in San Francisco."

We said our goodbyes and Freddie and I walked back to the truck. Once we were safely inside, we looked at each other.

"Melanie's making a mistake," I said.

"We don't know that for sure. We haven't even met this John guy yet. According to Melanie, they're perfect for each other," Freddie said.

"I don't care if they're Romeo and Juliet. They're still way to young to get married," I said.

"You're always the spontaneous one Sam. I figured you'd be all for it," Freddie said.

"Well, she should take what happened with Mom and Dad as an example. They got married way too young, and their marriage didn't last very long," I said, and Freddie looked at me.

"What if you met the perfect guy in the next year or so? Wouldn't you marry him?" he asked.

"No, I would wait," I answered.

"But what if you knew he was the person you were supposed to spend the rest of your life with?" Freddie asked. He sure was full of questions today.

"There's no way to know that," I said.

"I bet there is. I hope I'll just look at someone and know," Freddie said.

"Just because you're attracted to someone doesn't mean you're supposed to spend the rest of your life with them. I think you have to be friends with them first," I said.

"Well, we've certainly got the friends part down," Freddie commented.

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading and please review!**


	13. Chapter 13

1**Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, sadly.**

Freddie's P.O.V:

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, her piercing blue eyes staring at me.

"I just mean that you said being friends is an important part of being married. I just meant we're good friends. That's all," I answered.

"It seemed to me like you were implying we should get married or something," Sam said. I thought it was odd that she didn't seem totally disgusted by that.

"I didn't mean..." I trailed off. "I don't know what I meant."

Sam turned to stare out the window. I could tell she was thinking and I didn't want to interrupt. We started to drive and I watched the endless stretch of highway in front of me. It seemed to be hours that passed by before Sam spoke again. Although when I looked at the clock, it was only a few minutes.

"Do you think we would make a good married couple?" she asked suddenly.

I almost spit up. "What?"

"I don't want to repeat it Benson. You know what I said," she said, with an annoyed tone to her voice.

"I don't know. I guess..." I said.

"Well, we have been friends for a long time," she said.

"Getting married takes a lot more than just being friends though," I said. I looked over at her. She had her window rolled down, and her blonde curls were blowing around everywhere.

"I know that," Sam said with a huff. "Never mind."

I didn't really know what else to say on the subject, so I didn't press further. Why did she even ask if we would make a good married couple? We would fight half the time, that probably wouldn't be a healthy relationship. But, we've been friends so long and that hasn't really affected us too much. Did I like Sam in that way. The good way?

She's pretty, beautiful even. Only an idiot wouldn't notice that. I spend pretty much every waking moment with her. We're together so often, it's weird when I go somewhere without her. Her voice suddenly interrupted my thoughts.

"Freddie, look over there," she said, pointing towards a town we could see below us.

"What about it?" I asked, and I saw a grin on Sam's face.

"I see a carousel," she said excitedly.

"Oh yeah, I see that," I said. The town did look pretty cool. I didn't even have to ask Sam if she wanted to see it, I already knew. I made a sharp turn onto a street with a sign that pointed to the town. It was called Seaside, Oregon.

The ocean looked beautiful as we drove down what I figured was the main road of the town. There were people everywhere. It was obvious about two-thirds of them were tourists. Hawaiian shirts and big floppy hats were abundant. Mothers were rubbing sun screen all over their little kids who looked as if it was the last thing they wanted to be doing.

"Freddie, let's park the truck and walk around a little bit," Sam said and I complied with her request. I pulled into the nearest parking lot, and was relieved to find it was free parking. We needed as much money as we could get at the moment.

We got out of the truck and Sam took off in the direction of the beach. I followed her, as usual. She was out of my sight in a few seconds. I could tell she was excited about this place. She always liked little beach towns, and this town fit that description perfectly.

Finally I caught up to her, and she was standing on a boardwalk, tapping her foot impatiently. "Slow much?" she asked me. I rolled my eyes.

She grabbed my arm and dragged me down the boardwalk. I saw a sign that said it was called the Promenade. I looked out at the ocean, feeling content. Sam hadn't let go of my arm and I decided to do something pretty bold. I grabbed her hand. She looked at me, surprised. I figured she would let go, but she didn't. We strolled down the promenade, holding hands. It felt really natural to hold her hand. I liked it.

"Do you want to go ride the carousel?' I asked. Sam nodded, and pulled me in the direction of the spinning red ride.

We stood in line for a few minutes and we reached the front. Sam chose a seahorse to ride on and I chose a pony. We were right next to each other. I felt a little silly because it was pretty much little kids and their parents on the ride besides us, but Sam didn't even notice. The ride started and music that sounded like it had been played for thirty years straight started. I felt the history of the ride immediately. I wondered how many people had been on this carousel.

I looked over at Sam, and she smiled at me. Her blue eyes were sparkling with happiness. Some of her hair was falling in her face and I wanted to brush it out of her eyes. I stopped myself though. After a few more minutes of going in circles the ride stopped and we got off. This time Sam grabbed my hand as we walked back towards the promenade.

"Look over there," she said and I looked in the direction she was pointing.

There was an outdoor craft mall a little ways down the promenade. We walked over there, still holding hands. We walked through the various craft booths, seeing things like dolls made out of shells and pottery. Sam suddenly stopped. She was looking at something. It was a painting.

I examined it. It was a painting of two people walking down a beach. The carousel was in the background and you could see the promenade. The strangest thing about it was the people in the picture. They looked like me and Sam. It wasn't exactly like us, but the girl had blonde curly hair and the guy had short brown hair. They were holding hands.

"That's weird," I said and Sam looked at me.

"I think we should buy it," she said.

"If we buy it, we'll only have about fifty dollars left," I said. "We'll probably have to sleep in the truck tonight."

"I don't care. If we don't buy this, I know I'll regret it," she said, and I knew there was no point in arguing with her. Especially since I kind of wanted it too.

Sam took the painting off of the wall and took money out of my pocket. "You could have just asked me to get it out," I said.

She smirked. "You're too slow."

She bounced off to check out with it and I looked around at the other paintings. None of them really stood out to me besides the one we were buying. Sam came back with a large wrapped package and we left to put it in the truck.

"Fredward, I'm getting hungry. Go buy me some food," she said.

I sighed. "Fine, but it has to be cheap."

"I know. I saw a hot dog stand that way," she said, pointing down the promenade. We got to the hot dog stand after a short walk and Sam ordered three hot dogs. One for me, two for her.

We sat on a bench that overlooked the ocean. The wind was blowing slightly and I glanced over at Sam. She was already in full hot dog eating mode, with chunks of food covering her mouth. I didn't really find it gross anymore. It was normal to me.

I looked out at the ocean. The sun was beginning to set and the light casting colors on the water made it look like the painting we just bought. Sam was looking at it too.

"Let's walk down there," she said, and I nodded.

We threw away our hot dog trash and walked down the stairs of the promenade. We took off our shoes and carried them. Sam slipped her hand into mine again once we made it out to the water. The surf was lapping against our feet as we walked. We walked for a while, not saying anything. We passed families relaxing on the beach, people jogging, old women reading books, and pretty much every type person as we walked.

We reached a section of beach that no one was on. It was really far from the town actually. I guess I hadn't realize how far we had walked. There were no more sounds of people talking and laughing. Occasionally you could hear a bird or something, but besides that the only sound I heard was the water hitting the sand. It was peaceful.

We stood there and looked at the water for a few minutes before Sam looked up at me. "Freddie, why are we doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Holding hands, being protective of each other. We haven't really acted this way since we came on this trip," she said.

I just looked at her because I wasn't sure what to say. Her hair was blowing around her face and her blue eyes seemed to be glowing in the dim light. I had trouble not forgetting the question she just asked me.

I finally thought of something to say. "Yeah we have, I mean, we're best friends. It's normal to do that kind of stuff."

"Not really Freddie. We're kidding ourselves when we say that. Just like when we hold hands or..." she trailed off.

"Or what?" I asked.

"Snuggle," she said quietly. I almost laughed, but I contained myself when I saw Sam's glare. She hates that word and I'm pretty sure that's the only time she's ever said it.

"So what are you saying? We should stop doing that stuff?" I asked. She stared at me and I could tell she was thinking about what she should say. All of the sudden, I realized something. I didn't want her to answer because I wanted to keep holding hands and keep hugging and keep doing everything that couples do.

"No, I..." she started to say, but I interrupted her.

I grabbed her shoulders and kissed her. At first she stood still and rigid, like she was in shock, but then she kissed me back. She wrapped her arms around my neck. I felt like I was in a dream or something. It felt so good kissing her. It was a feeling I can't and won't ever be able to describe.

Then, it ended as quickly as it began. She pulled away from me. "Why? was all she could manage.

"I..." started to say, but then _she_ grabbed _my_ shoulders and kissed _me_.

This time, the kiss lasted longer. We kissed until we had to breathe. She still had her hands on my shoulders and I still had my hands on her waist. We stared at each other for a minute.

"What are we doing?" Sam asked breathlessly.

"I'm pretty sure we just kissed...twice." I said.

**A/N: Was this an alright kiss scene for both of them? Did I keep them in character? I hope so, because I loved writing it. :) Thanks for reading and please review!**


	14. Chapter 14

1Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, sadly.

Sam's P.O.V:

Freddie and I just stood there, letting what just happened between us sink in. I could just hear his breathing and my breathing. Everything else was tuned out. Freddie just kissed me and I just kissed him.

"Sam..." Freddie said quietly, he seemed shocked himself. I'm sure he couldn't believe what he had just done. He looked like he didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to say either.

"Why did you just kiss me?" I asked softly. My voice sounded foreign to me. It was quiet and not aggressive at all.

"I don't know," Freddie said, and I believed him. He truly sounded like he had no idea why he kissed me.

"I don't know why I kissed you either," I said. We were still standing there, arms wrapped around each other. I suddenly realized that and backed away from him.

I sat down on the sand, and Freddie sat next to me. We were facing each other. "Sam, something just came over me. I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable or something."

"Well, I kissed you again, so it didn't make me uncomfortable," I said, looking down at the sand. I didn't want to see Freddie's expression. It would probably make me want to kiss him again.

"What are we going to do now?" he asked.

I didn't answer his question, instead deciding to ask my own. "Did you like it?"

I was still looking down, but I imagined Freddie's shocked face. His eyes would probably widen and his mouth would open for a second, but then he would shut it when his mind processed the question. After a few seconds, I heard Freddie's response. "Yes," he whispered, as if he couldn't believe it himself.

I worked up enough courage to look at him. His eyes were closed like he didn't want to look at me either. Or all of this was overload for his brain. "I liked it too." I managed.

Freddie's eyes flew open at this. "Really?"

"Yeah," I said, again in that soft voice, which I'm sure I wouldn't be proud of if I watched this whole thing over again.

Our eyes met for a beat too long. We both leaned in and kissed again. I slipped my arms around Freddie's neck. He pulled me closer to him. We sat there for a little bit, kissing, until I fully realized what was happening.

I pulled away from him. "We can't do this Freddie."

He looked disappointed. "Why?"

"Because...because...Oh, I don't know. We just can't," I said, stuttering.

"You can't think of a reason, can you?" he asked, smugly. I felt like slapping him.

"I can think of a reason. It changes everything, that's my reason. Nothing will ever be the same between us, between us and Carly. It throws the balance of our trio out of whack," I said, trying to control the insane urge to kiss him again. Man, I'm acting bipolar. One minute I want to kiss him, then slap him, then kiss him again.

"What if we've always been out of balance, and us being together is the balance?" Freddie asked. I looked at him. Why does he have to say things like that? It makes me want to say he's right and we'll be together forever.

I felt fear inside of me as something else crossed my mind. I decided to tell Freddie. "If we do get together, then break up, what if we're never friends again?' I asked.

Freddie sighed and I could tell he was thinking about the same thing. His expression then became determined. "Sam, I promise you if that happens, we'll still be best friends. Nothing will change. Everything will go back to normal."

I sighed. "I don't think that's possible."

"We're Sam and Freddie. How can that not be possible?' he said, and he smiled at me.

I grinned. "Okay, maybe you're right."

"I am right." he said, "Now where were we?" He started to lean towards me again, but I pushed him back. I wasn't making it that easy for him.

"You have to ask me," I stated.

"Ask you what?" he asked. For someone as smart as him, he could really be stupid sometimes.

"To be your girlfriend," I said, exasperated. I rolled my eyes as an added effect.

"Oh, yeah," he said, and he got that little spark in his eyes. He only got that when he had an idea.

He pulled me up and dragged me out into the water. He grabbed my hands. "Samantha Puckett, will you please be my girlfriend?"

I smirked. "Only because you said please." Then I dunked him underwater.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

Freddie and I were sitting on the beach, and his arms were wrapped around my shoulders. We were watching the sun go down. We still hadn't seen anyone out here. I sighed contentedly. Fredward Benson was _my_ boyfriend. It still hadn't fully sunken in yet. I never would have guessed that when we left on this trip.

"Sam, I can't believe this," he said, and I turned around and looked at him.

"I know. Neither can I," I responded, and we kissed again.

He brushed my hair out of my face. "When do you plan on telling Carly?" he asked.

"Why don't you tell her..." I suggested. He smiled.

"She's going to freak out, isn't she?" Freddie asked and we both laughed.

"I'll be sure to hold the phone away from my ear when I tell her. She's definitely going to scream," I said.

"Here," Freddie said, pulling his PearPhone out of his pocket. "Tell her right now."

I decided to distract him by kissing him. I preferred not to explain to anyone what was going on with me and Freddie to anyone. It could be our little secret. He kissed back for a minute, but then seemed to realize what I was doing. "Sam, are you going to kiss me now when you want something?"

"Yes, yes I will," I said, and he stared at me until I begrudgingly took the phone. "Fine."

I dialed Carly's number and it only rang a couple times before she answered. "Hey Freddie, how's the trip going?" she asked.

"Actually it's Sam," I said, nervously. Even over the phone, Carly could tell something was up. She knew me that well.

"What's wrong Sam? Did you get arrested again?" she asked, in that worried tone of hers.

"No, nothing like that," I said. "I just have to tell you something."

"Tell me what?" Carly asked.

"Freddie and I are..." I said, trailing off.

"You and Freddie are what?" she asked.

"We're dating," I said quickly.

Carly gasped and then let out a scream that would've not only scared most small children, but adults too. "When did this happen?"

"About a hour ago," I said and Carly squealed this time.

"Yes! I've always hoped..." she said happily.

"You have?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah, at first I thought the idea of my two best friends dating was weird, but then I started to love it," she said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes really. Sam, I have to go. Spencer caught his fishing pole on fire. Have fun on your trip," she said, and I heard the phone click. She hung up.

"Carly said..." I said, but Freddie interrupted me.

"Don't worry. She talked so loud, I heard the whole thing," he said, smirking.

"Oh no," I said, remembering something.

"What?" he asked nervously.

"We still have to tell your mother."

A/N: What do you think of this development? Do you think they should keep dating? Thank you so much for reading and please review to tell me your thoughts. :)


	15. Chapter 15

1Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, sadly.

Freddie's P.O.V:

"You have to call her Freddie," Sam said, smirking.

I groaned. "She's going to be angry. She thinks all you do is abuse me."

"Which is true. But I won't hurt you bad enough to put you in the hospital or anything. Just call her," she said, holding out the phone to me.

I took it, sighing. I gave Sam an annoyed look before I dialed my mom's number. She smirked. My mom picked up immediately.

"Freddie, are you okay?" she asked frantically. She had gotten slightly better over the years, but she was still my same old mom.

"I'm fine Mom. I just called you because I have to tell you something," I said nervously.

"Did Sam hurt you?" she asked. She sounded extremely worried.

"No, actually the opposite. I just wanted to tell you that Sam and I are dating," I said, and held my breath until she replied.

I heard her take a few deep breaths. "Dating?" Her quiet voice scared me worse than if she was screaming at me.

"Yes, dating." I said, giving Sam a nervous look. She just gave me a little half-smile.

"Why in the world would you date Samantha? She does nothing but torture you. I still can't figure out why you would go on this trip with her," she said, her voice starting to get louder.

"She doesn't just torture me Mom," I said, exasperated.

"Well, I've never seen anything but her causing you emotional and physical pain," she said.

"I know, but you're not always around," I said.

I heard my mom sigh. "Well, obviously I should be. She's changed you Fredward."

I rolled my eyes. "Mom, I'm still the same Freddie I've always been. I just have a girlfriend now."

My mom was quiet for a moment. Then she spoke. "Is Sam near you right now?"

"Yeah, she's sitting right next to me," I said, glancing at her. She seemed bored with the conversation, because she was writing things in the sand.

"May I speak to her?" she asked.

Sam suddenly looked up. She must have heard what my mom said. She shook her head no with a desperate look in her eyes.

"Um, I don't know if right now would be the best time. Maybe later," I said quickly. I knew if I handed Sam my phone, she would throw it into the ocean.

"No, I want to talk to her right now Freddiebear,"she said demandingly.

"I really don't think..." I said, but Sam interrupted me by grabbing my phone.

"Look, Mrs. Benson. I won't hurt your son too bad. He's perfectly safe with me. So stop worrying," she said angrily.

I could hear what my mom was saying. "Samantha, why do you want to date my son, anyways? I thought you hated him."

"First of all, do not call me Samantha. Second of all, I never hated him," Sam said. I grinned at her.

"Then why do you constantly hurt him?" she asked.

I could tell Sam was getting frustrated. "I don't constantly hurt him. He's my best friend."

"Okay, Samantha. I really have to go. Something's burning on the stove," she said hurriedly.

Sam just hung up, not bothering to say bye. "At least that's over with."

I nodded. I wrapped my arms around Sam's shoulders and she leaned against me. The sun was completely below the horizon now and it was dark besides the small sprinkling of stars across the sky.

Sam turned and looked up at me. I brushed some hair out of her eyes. We both leaned in and kissed each other. Sam wrapped her arms around my neck. She mumbled something against my lips. I pulled back just long enough to ask her what she said. We kept kissing for a few minutes before she answered.

"You taste good," she said softly and I smiled.

"So do you," I answered before she pulled me back towards her.

We finally stopped to breathe. Sam laid down on the sand, staring up at the stars. I laid down next to her. She curled up next to me. We didn't say anything as I stroked her hair. It smelled like my shampoo. She must have forgotten hers. She put her head on my chest. Before long, her breathing became like a rhythm and I knew she had fallen asleep. I didn't want to wake her up. She looked so peaceful.

I opened my eyes slowly, adjusting to the light. I felt something next to me and I squinted to see what it was. I immediately remembered everything and took in the scent of Sam's hair falling over my chest. She was still asleep. She had a light smile on her face. I didn't really want to wake her up, but the sand was seriously uncomfortable to sleep on all night and I could feel how sore I was.

"Sam, wake up," I said softly, trying to sit up. I grimaced at how bad my back hurt.

She slowly opened her eyes. "Freddie?" she asked, disoriented.

"Yeah I'm here. We slept all night on the beach," I said and Sam smiled faintly at me.

"We did?" she asked, and sat up a lot quicker than she should of. I could tell she suddenly felt how sore she was. "Oh, we did."

I tried unsuccessfully to brush all the sand off of my clothes. Sam looked down at her shirt and shorts.

"I'm not even going to try cleaning up out here. We need to find showers," she said, and started walking down the beach in the direction of civilization.

I quickly caught up to her and fell in step beside her. "We don't have much money," I said, as I took her hand.

"We can find another job or something," she said and I nodded.

"We'll have to," I said.

Sam looked at me and a huge grin spread across her face. "What is it?" I asked.

"You have a ton of sand in your hair. It just looks weird," she said and sounded like she was about to laugh.

"Oh really?" I asked, and got an idea. I suddenly leaned over a little bit and shook my head like a wet dog. The sand flew everywhere and landed on Sam.

"Benson, I'm going to get you for that," she said and we stared at each other for a minute.

"I'd like to see you try," I scoffed trying to sound confident, but it didn't really work. Sam grabbed my arm and used all of her strength to drag me out into the water.

"What are you doing?" I asked nervously, because we were just standing there in the water, which was only ankle-deep.

"Teaching you a lesson," she said, but she just grabbed me and kissed me. I stood there in shock for a second before I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her back. I liked this lesson at the moment.

Sam suddenly bit down, hard on my tongue. I jumped away from her in pain. I tasted blood and felt in run down the back of my throat. Sam just smirked.

"Sam..." I groaned.

She just turned and flounced away from me, back towards the town. I trailed behind her. She turned her head and looked at me.

"Did it stop bleeding yet?" she asked.

"How do you know it bled?" I asked, my tongue still in serious pain.

"Lucky guess," she said, the triumphant smirk still evident on her face.

I caught up to her for the second time that day. "And for your information, it did stop bleeding," I said. Sam smiled and grabbed my hand.

"Good, because I don't want to kiss someone who has blood in their mouth," she said, and pulled me towards her.

Sam sat in the truck with her feet up on the dash as we drove down the highway. She glanced at me. "So, you're taking me on a date tonight."

"A date?" I asked, surprised. I hadn't even thought about that.

"Yes, a date. We're boyfriend and girlfriend now, remember?" she asked and I smiled.

"Okay then, where would you like to go?" I asked.

"The Meat Palace," she stated, acting like that was a completely normal answer.

"The Meat Palace? I don't even think there's a Meat Palace around here," I said.

"My mom and I have been to one on this highway. I know it's got to be coming up. I've been looking for it," she said.

I still wasn't completely sold on the idea. "Do you really want to tell our kids our first date was at the Meat Palace. That's not very romantic."

"It's extremely romantic. And kids? Aren't you moving a little fast there? You have to marry me first," she said, smirking at me.

I felt my face get warm. "I didn't mean..."

She just smiled. "It's okay, I get it."

**A/N: What did you think of this installment? Please review and tell me what you think! And thanks for reading!**


	16. Chapter 16

1**Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, sadly.**

**Freddie's P.O.V: **

I looked at my outfit nervously in the mirror of the gas station bathroom. I didn't have very many clean clothes left and the only "date" clothes I could wear was a striped shirt and a dark wash pair of jeans. I really hoped the striped shirt wouldn't bother Sam too much. I ran my hand through my hair. Sam said one time she liked my hair messed up. Hopefully that would distract her from her least favorite pattern. I doubted it would.

I took a deep breath and stepped out from the men's room, only to find Sam standing outside the door waiting for me. I figured she would take longer to change. I mean, she's a girl, and generally they take longer to get ready.

"Finally," Sam groaned. "You're such a girl Benson. Most guys don't take that long to get ready."

I barely heard her. I was too distracted by her appearance to take offense at her insult. She was wearing a dress, which was odd in itself. It wasn't one of those formal dresses you would wear to dance or something, it was like a sun dress. It was navy blue and she had on flip flops with it. I thought she looked beautiful.

"You look good," I said quickly, feeling extremely nervous. I can't believe all I said was that she looked good. I felt like slapping myself. I should've told her she was the most beautiful girl I've ever seen or something like that.

"Thanks," she said quietly, and we walked out of the gas station to the truck.

It was a quiet ride to the Meat Palace. I wasn't really sure what to say to Sam, and I could tell she wasn't sure what to say either. This was new territory for us, being on a date. It felt sort of odd, mostly because she wasn't insulting me. I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel and kept an eye out for the restaurant. Finally, I spotted a large neon sign that said Meat Palace, Eat Like A King. I pulled into the half-full parking lot and I heard Sam sigh.

"Freddie, I think we need to talk about something before we go inside," she said. I could tell it was important because she called me Freddie and she didn't sound as confident as she usually did.

"What do we need to talk about?" I asked, looking at her eyes which just so happened to match her dress.

"Well, I think we need to act more like ourselves," she stated. I gave her a questioning glance and she continued. "If these were normal circumstances, we wouldn't be quiet around each other all the time and you wouldn't be so nervous. I'm still Sam and you're still Freddie. We're not different people, we're just dating."

I agreed with her, but I decided not to just tell her some sappy thing about how right she was and how we needed to be ourselves and how I was sorry for being quiet the whole time. Doing that would contradict what she was trying to say. I smirked at her. "That's pretty deep for you Puckett."

Sam face lit up. "Don't get used to it Benson. For a minute there, you feminine side was rubbing off on me. Come on, Mama's hungry," she said, and slipped out of the truck.

I caught up to her on the sidewalk. "And by the way, earlier when I said you look good, I mean it. You're beautiful Sam," I said and Sam turned to face me.

"I hate stripes," she said, raised her eyebrows at me, and took off running towards the front doors. I smiled, not because she insulted my outfit, but because before she starting running, I caught her blush.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

"You want the Fat Man's Feast?" the waitress asked Sam skeptically.

"Yes, I told you that," Sam said impatiently. I guess the Fat Man's Feast is really famous around here. They give you more meat than any one person is supposed to eat in their lifetimes (well, not that much, but it's still a lot of pork) and if by some crazy chance you finish it all, you get a t-shirt and your picture taken and put up on the wall.

The waitress looked at Sam's petite figure and shrugged. "Whatever you say."

After the woman left, Sam looked at me. "What size of t-shirt do you think I should get?" she asked.

"I don't know, you'll have to look at them." I answered.

Sam took a big drink of the Peppy-Cola in front of her. After she swallowed, she asked, "Do you want to be in the picture with me?"

"Do you think they allow that?" I asked.

"I don't care what they allow, you're going to be in the picture with me," she said.

I smiled at her, but before I could ask why she wanted me to be in the picture with her so bad, the waitress came back carrying my small plate and sat it down in front of me.

"Where's my food?" Sam asked angrily.

"Oh, it's coming. It just takes two people to carry the plate," the waitress said. Sam smiled happily at her answer.

Soon after, two waiters sat the huge platter of various kinds of pork down in front of Sam. She grinned at them. "Thank you boys."

Then, she dug in. I watched her eat as I took small bites of my pulled pork sandwich. She ate quickly, but thankfully it wasn't too disgusting. In a few minutes, various spectators were gathered around our booth to watch her. I could tell they were amazed she had made it as far as she had.

A few minutes later, Sam was down to her last few bites. By this time, everyone in the restaurant was trying to catch a glimpse of Sam eating. To add to the invasion of privacy, they would ask me various questions about "this strange blonde girl".

"How does she do it?" one lady asked.

Another person asked me if she had an enlarged stomach or some sort of health issue that would make her eat like that. I just answered, "She's always been this way." There was no doubting the pride in my voice.

Sam seemed oblivious to the people surrounding us. Once she got down to her last bite, she put her fork down and the crowd gasped. Her blue eyes sparkled at me and I smiled at her.

She raised her fork up with the last bite of food suspended on it's three tines. "This one is for you Benson," she said. And with that, she put the fork in her mouth and the crowd around us cheered.

After I had paid for her thirty dollar feast and my five dollar sandwich, we were making our way across the parking lot hand in hand. Sam had her extra large t-shirt slung over her shoulder. They didn't make the t-shirts any smaller than that, because, well, no one that was smaller than that had ever even attempted the Fat Man's Feast.

Thankfully, the manager had two copies of our picture made. One for us and one for the Meat Eaters Hall of Fame wall in the lobby of the restaurant. Sam looked down at the picture in her hand and I followed her gaze. I had my arm around Sam's shoulder, and I was looking at her happily. She was looking at the camera grinning widely with barbeque sauce smeared across her face.

"This is going to go on my Christmas card," she said, and I laughed.

**A/N: Thanks for reading and please review!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, sadly.**

Night had fallen as we drove down the highway. The monotonous rhythm of driving was beginning to get to me. I had to keep myself awake, but Sam didn't seem to be having any trouble.

"I think we need to find somewhere to stop for the night. I'm getting a little bit tired," I said, with a yawn that seemed perfectly placed.

"I can drive. Pull over," she commanded.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Really? You never drive."

"I do when you're not in the car, which isn't that often, but still. I really want to," she said, with an expression similar to a dog begging for food.

"Okay, if you really want to," I said. She could've asked for anything and I would've given it to her.

Sam smiled brightly. "You're the best Benson."

"Oh, so we're on last name basis again huh?" I said, with a teasing glance.

"When did we ever get off of last name basis?" Sam asked with a laugh.

"I think it was somewhere in between junior high and last night on the beach," I replied.

Sam laughed. "Just pull over nub."

The pulled the car over on the side of the emptying highway, and Sam and I switched places. It was very odd having her in the drivers seat. It wasn't like I had some male superiority problem that made me not want a girl to drive my truck. It was just that this was a change from our usual pattern. Sam was always next to me in the passenger seat. It just felt abnormal for me to be where she usually was.

But, I didn't have to long to dwell on it, because the passing landscape outside my window slowly lulled me to sleep.

* * *

"Freddie, wake up," Sam said loudly as she shook my shoulder.

I rubbed my eyes and moved my head out of the awkward position it had been in, using the seatbelt as a makeshift pillow.

"Where are we?" I asked, my voice slightly hoarse from sleep.

"We're in Newport I think. I need you to help me find somewhere to get gas," Sam said.

"Just turn off at this road," I said, pointing to a winding road that looked as if it ran right along beside the ocean.

"Got it," Sam said.

I saw the lights of a gas station up ahead and Sam pulled in the parking lot. It looked old, but kind of cozy. Sam pulled up by a pump and got out of the car. An older man came out of the small, cabin-like building. I decided to get out and ask him if there were any campgrounds around, seeing as we couldn't afford a hotel.

"Excuse me sir, I was wondering if there are any campgrounds around here?" I asked.

The man had a greying beard and was wearing an old fishing cap. His voice was gravelly when he spoke. "Not one that I can recall. Do you need somewhere to stay for the night?"

"Yeah, we do. Is there any hotels around, anything?" I asked.

"No one would dare compete with Castle Hill. It's a resort, just down the road there. My brother owns it, I could ask him if he would put you up there for the night," he answered.

I felt slightly embarrassed asking him, but I had to. "Is it expensive? We don't have much money."

Just then, Sam came walking around the truck and stood beside me.

"Hello," she said tentatively.

"Hi, I was just telling your husband here that there's a resort just up the road here if you need a place to stay. And to answer your question, I'll see if we can work out a deal with my brother," he said.

I nodded. Sam and I were both too tired to correct him. Plus, his mistake didn't bother me. "That sounds great, thank you," I answered.

Sam grinned. She seemed to like him. "My name's Sam and this is Freddie."

He shook both of our hands. "I'm John, but everyone calls me Johnny. If you guys just want to follow me up the road, I'll take you to the resort."

Normally I would've been a little nervous to follow a stranger somewhere, but he seemed nice enough and we didn't really have anywhere else to go.

"Thanks again," Sam said as we got back in the truck. We followed his little truck, which was definitely getting old, up the road. I could tell it would be scenic during the day, but it was too dark to see much of anything at the moment.

Finally, we saw a cream colored sign with lights illuminating the words Castle Hill Resort. We pulled inside a set of gates and Johnny's truck pulled over at what seemed like a place to check in. It looked to me like a mansion, with large turrets and a welcoming front porch with swings and white rocking chairs. Sam parked and we both got out of the car. Even though I had taken a nap, I could feel how tired I was with every step.

Johnny led us into the mansion through a set of white double doors. The lobby was spectacular. It had a high ceiling, with more woodwork than I've ever seen in a room. There were couches and armchairs everywhere, with a large, intricately carved check-in desk towards the back.

"This is beautiful," Sam said softly. I nodded in agreement.

We followed Johnny to the check-in desk.

"Hey Johnny," an older woman behind the desk said. "I was just getting ready to lock up. Did you need anything?"

"Actually, these two pulled up to the station and said they needed a place to stay. Seeing as this is the only place for miles, I figured I'd take them up here," Johnny said warmly.

"Well, you've come to the right place. My name's Andrea, what kind of room can I put you in? We have guest rooms here at the inn and we also have six beach cottages scattered throughout the grounds. It hasn't been a very busy week, so you can take your pick," she said.

"We can't afford much," I said nervously, rubbing the back of my neck. I could tell the resort was way too expensive.

Andrea smiled kindly and Johnny cut in. "I was thinking Pete could work something out with them."

"I'll go get him. He' s in the back," Andrea said.

"Thank you so much for this," I said, as I turned to face Johnny.

"It's no problem. You two remind me so much of my wife and I. You look just like she did," he said, turning towards Sam. He had a sad smile on his face.

"Thank you," Sam said quietly.

Just then, Andrea came back with who I was guessing to be Pete. He was a heavyset man with a jolly face and twinkling eyes. He reminded me of a younger version of Santa Claus. "Hello, Andrea here told me that Johnny brought us some new guests. My name's Pete," he said, reaching out his hand.

We both shook it. "I'm Freddie and this is Sam."

"Nice to meet you. Now, I'm guessing you need a place to stay," he said.

I nodded. "Yeah, but we can't afford much." I felt like I was going to have to repeat that sentence endlessly on this trip.

"No problem. We're short on breakfast servers in the morning, so how about if you help me out, I'll put you up in one of the cottages. There's a really pretty beachfront one open right now," he said.

"That would be great. Thank you," I said happily.

"I'll have Andrea give you the keys and directions," he said.

* * *

About ten minutes later, Sam and I were standing in front of a little cottage with two rocking chairs on the front porch. We climbed the steps and Sam put the key in the lock. Once we were inside, I turned the light on.

I heard Sam's breath catch in her throat. We were standing in one of the prettiest places I had ever seen. The walls were painted white, and wide planked hardwood floors were under our feet. The windows had white, wispy curtains covering them and in the middle of the room, there was a king sized bed with a canopy and blue pillows. In the corner there was a blue rocking chair and right outside the window was the ocean. It looked like something from a movie.

"This is unbelievable," I said. Sam nodded in agreement.

There was a small bathroom to the left. "I'm going to take a quick shower," Sam said, still in awe of the cottage.

"I'll bring our stuff in," I said.

A few minutes later Sam lay down beside me in her pajamas. "Freddie, I can't believe how lucky we are. I'm glad you told me to turn down that road for gas."

"I know, me too." I answered.

She curled up next to me and put her head on my shoulder. "Goodnight Freddie," she said softly. She must've been too tired to think of a nickname.

I heard the waves roll into the shore as I looked down at her. As I kissed her temple, I knew that this moment would be near impossible to beat. "Goodnight Sam," I whispered into the dark.

**A/N: I'm sorry for how long it took me to update this; I just had a really bad case of writer's block. Thanks for sticking with this story, and I hope this chapter was worth the wait! Thanks for reading and please review!**


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